Black-necked Stilt

[Jack Backs]

Not a lot of creamy smooth beach backgrounds here in the Midwest. This was about as good as I could do at this location. Full frame. I set my exposure such that there
are just a few blinkies in the whites(usually recoverable in the raw file) and then hope for the best in the blacks. The top of the wing is pure black. Processed primarily with
Topaz DeNoise AI. The bird was close enough I took my TC off, something I rarely do.
Nikon D500, 500mmF4VRII
f6.3, 1/2500s. iso640

[David Roach]

Very intimate view of this beauty. Perfect EXP and I love the pose. The environment looks fine to me. Love the one drop almost to the water from the beak. TFS

ps
Those whites....

[Dorian Anderson]

Nice close view of this female (sexed by brownish upper back). Eye contact is great, and I think you did pretty well on the background.Looks like you made a nice effort to get as low as possible. Exposure, sharpness, and details look good.

I think the image needs a bit of CW rotation, and there seems to be a color cast (magenta?), but wait for other opinions on that.

[Ivan Sjogren]

A stunning bird in a beautiful setting Jack.
I think you exposed the shot perfectly and there is plenty of details in both the blacks and whites. Maybe you could lift the darkest parts where the blacks meet the brown back.
Pose and head angle is spot on and the light is quite pleasing. Good colors and nice shooting angle. I do find the background a bit distracting adn the bubble on the left is also draws my eye.
I feel like the image needs some CW rotation too!

[Bill Dix]

Great close look at this beauty -- such photogenic birds. Nice pose, good colors in the BG. Excellent exposure. I don't know about a color cast, but agree it needs just the slightest CW rotation.

[Jack Backs]

Some minor tweaking as recommended.

[dankearl]

Repost fixed all, excellent POV and details.

[John Mack]

Quite a nice frame. Low angle pose and setting are right on.

[Brian Sump]

Jack, this frame evokes a nice emotion. Bird stands out against a pleasingly colored bkg.

Out of curiosity, how large was the crop?

A small nit, but I might smooth out the lines going across the bkg. Also, I see a touch of halos around the top of head.

TFS!

[Jack Backs]

This was full frame.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The repost nicely addresses the suggestions offered. I likely would have photographed wide-open, it could have helped slightly with the BG. Anyhow, a beautiful image. Well exposed, sharp, and a perfect head angle.

[Brian Sump]

This was full frame.

Nice!