Common Snipe

[Rosl Roessner]

This common snipe was really cooperative.
While I was driving with my car, loooking for birds, I saw that bird walking around. So I stopped the engine, had to change bean bag and lens from the drivers window to the other side and was able to make pleasing images out of the window.
When I had some pictures I decided to open the door slowly and try to make images from a lower point of view. I was afraid to scare the bird and thought it might fly away. But it was quite relaxed and I layed down on the ground and made some more pictures. The bird was posing for me, looking to the right, to the left, staring at me and so on... I like the pose here, looking like a model with the right leg a bit in front of the left one.... framed in those little lilac flowers.
I hope the head angle is alright for the HAP....

Mark III
500 mm
1/400 sec. f 4 ISO 1000

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely image Rosl. The little blue flowers are a bonus

[Linda Robbins]

This must be the only tolerant snipe on the planet! Sweet pose and sharp detail The lilac flowers add a lovely touch of color.

[Maxis Gamez]

Hi Rosl,

Lovely looking bird. This image needs more contrast and more colors!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great find and eye contact. I agree with Maxis regarding more contrast and might sharpen the bird a bit more.

[Ramon M. Casares]

I love it, here in Argentina these birds are almost impossible to get close to, I would give a bit more contrast and a little bit more saturation, but as is still works for me! Congrastulations!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice model you have got. I would love some more contrast and little bit of vibrance.

[Rosl Roessner]

Thank you all for your gentle and always honest critique.
I think you can call me : "Miss afraid of oversharpening and oversaturising".... :o

Like always these are the points of your critique.
So I tried to improve that image by sharpening a bit, adjusting the tonality and increasing saturation and contrast....

Don't you think that it is too much???
Better or worse?
Best between?

[Juan Aragonés]

Rosl the respost looks much better in my opinion but I am a big fun of sharpening and saturation;)
The bird is rendered with fantastic details and love the eye contact. I think that the BG do not helps to isolate the bird, maybe a lower angle would be better. Excelent image all around

[Rosl Roessner]

Dear Juan,
thaks for commenting my image and the repost. Love to hear your opinion.
Actually I was lying on the ground, but I used a bean bag, so I had hardly a chance to lower the angle.
May be, the bean bag was too much?

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

The repost looks much better!!!

[Simon Bennett]

The repost is excellent - a very fine image.

[Juan Aragonés]

Hi Rosl, thanks for your kind words :) It is a joy to see your images and comment on them. Regarding the lower angle matter, I have seen people shooting with the bare lens foot resting on the ground but, as far as I know, more photographers tend to use a bean bag or a pan pod with excellent results (not my case :D). I think that the best way to get one of those fantastic low angles that we see here is going to a place were the ground is really flat, obviously, that is not always possible. I am sure that you went as lower as possible when shooting your snipe and what I should have wrote in my comment is something like “oh my god, this image is really good. I think that you were as lower as possible but, I cannot but wonder how much better it would be with a lower angle!”.

Maybe you can try to select part of the BG an blur a little bit in PS, this way the bird would be more isolated from the BG.

By the way, I forget to said that I like a lot the OOF violet flowers in the BG, they add a color touch to an image of a very criptic species and BG ;)

[Maxis Gamez]

Re-post works much better! Excellent work Rosl!

[Rosl Roessner]

Thank you so much, Juan and Maxis!
I just started a new thread with another one from that cooperative snipe.
I must improve my image management....

Love,
Rosl