Beach Stone-curlew saying "Hi"

[Paul Burdett]

Went out early this morning, but by the time I spotted this bird the sun was already getting too high in the sky. However, I'm happy as this a "lifer" for me. Edited in acr and ps. Cheers.

DE500/500PF, 1/1600th sec@f7.1,auto iso560, manual mode HH.

[Dorian Anderson]

Fun pose - love the detail on the raised foot. The curious head tilt is fun as well. Bummer about the side lighting though. This woulda really cracked if directly illuminated.

[Paul Burdett]

Thanks Dorian. Yes, I agree about the lighting.

[Colin Driscoll]

Nice capture for a lifer. I missed out on one of these a few years ago when a tourist out for an early morning walk flushed it.
I've done a bit of a rescue here.
Removed the blue cast in the shadowed beak and along the ground.
Did some eye work to add more life and lifted the shaded areas a bit more.

[David Roach]

That is one cool subject and pose. Light angle not withstanding, wonderful detail and colors. TFS

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Paul ... really nice to see something different in terms of species , and I personally like all of the Curlews .
Light was not on your side , so you have very strong contrast in your image ... like the previous posting .
But I do see some potential to equalize the tones and make the image a bit more pleasing , IMHO .
I would try to split the tones and edit them separately ... one for the darks , mid , and lights . I would burn the lights and mid tones and dodge the darks .

The RP has made the image worse , IMHO . The darks became really crunchy ... not the best tool used , to open up things . Just my take ....

Overall i do like the shot with the low POV and the soft BG , good that you have kept the tonal variations in the BG .

TFS Andreas

[Daniel Cadieux]

It's always fun to add a new species to a life list! Congrats! You did the most you could here with the less than ideal light and light angle. If you have it, you could add more below (and left to retain the ratio).

[Paul Burdett]

Thank you all for looking and commenting, and for Colin's RP. Removing the blue cast was a good idea. All suggestions taken on board. Yes to the less than ideal light.