Three-banded plover

[Vincent Grafhorst]

Three-banded plover and his reflection.
(Charadrius tricollaris)

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/800
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 800
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Focal Length 700.0 mm

Vincent Grafhorst
www.khwaiphotography.com (http://www.khwaiphotography.com)

[Tony Whitehead]

This is a cute bird, Vincent - light is good and reflection is nice - think a bit more room, especially above would be good. The thick perch (?water trough rim) when coupled with it's reflection looks too thick and divides the image horizontally too severely in my view. The loose feather stuck to it is an added distraction. I am not sure of an easy solution apart from a crop to focus just on the bird

[Juan Aragonés]

I like the general composition, light, sharpness and pose. I do not mind about the perch or the feather, in fact I like the feather, but I agree with Tony regarding the need for more room. A very cool species BTW

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Very interesting image and I love the great detail and the wonderful reflection. The feather adds another element of interest to this capture and I agree a little more room would strengthen this image. Fine work Vincent and thanks for sharing.

[Paul Wolf]

I'm thinking the bird, feather and perch all work together to make the image. I found the reflection confuses me; I'm not sure what to look at in the image. So, I just had to see what would happen if I took out the reflection and added room to the top and right. This version seems to focus my attention on the bird, as Tony also suggested, and the loose feather now adds interest. Don't get me wrong, I love reflections, but for me it seemed to take away from my experience as a viewer rather than add to it. Anyway, I'm sitting here waiting for Hurricane Ike to hit me. Had to get my mind off of it.

[Vincent Grafhorst]

Hi Paul, thank you for your comments and your repost, it is much appreciated. I also did manage to make a horizontal frame I am happy with as this fellow posed for about half a minute or so. The difficulty with the cloning work involved with images with reflections is to get the reflection as a matching mirror image of the subject;)

Btw I hope that hurricane is not gonna be too hard on you, good luck!