Ruddy Turnstone Wing Stretch

[Bob Blanchard]

Thought a pano crop might work well here. Plenty of room for anything, though. This was captured in the morning light on the North Beach in Fort DeSoto. I was laying down working on some shorebirds down-light from me, when I saw this nice little Ruddy in Winter plumage beside me doing his morning wing-stretches. No time to get up-light from him, so I did the best I could with the sun angle.

Canon 1DsMII, EF 300mm f/4, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/640
http://CatcherofLight.smugmug.com/photos/243519328-X3.jpg

[Johnny Bravo]

Very nice--the pano crop really works with this image. I like the 'banding' effect on the bg.

[Paul Davey]

Wow, excellent pose Bob. These leg-wing stretches make great action subjects. Great eye-level photograph and good lighting. I initially liked the panorama crop but I am not sure about it anymore. This is because there isn't much room ahead of the bird, and it is pretty much in the middle of the frame. I don't see the point of this crop. Perhaps you could show us the original.

Paul

[Glenn Ehmke]

Those wing-stretch shots are great, they show so much detail in the wing plumage. Pitty about the sun, maybe a bit more shadow-highlights to bring out detail in the neck plumage and perhaps a touch more saturation? Love the composition!

[James Fuller]

I would clone out the bright spots in the background

[Tony Whitehead]

Crop works for me but I would suggest reducing the free space in front of the bird by about 25%. This would remove 2 of the small bright blobs and I agree the rest would be better cloned out. Sharpening halos are prominent.

[Steve Foss]

Bob, I really like the comp and pose. Great you were able to get this grab shot while paying attention to and looking for other things. The alert photographer gets the wing stretch.

The pano crop works well for me, partly because the shadow stretches all the way across the field of view. As mentioned, a little S/H work will make the shadow detail pop a bit. For me, there are three hot background spots that, cloned out, would make for a kinder, gentler background. The other bright BG spots are more subtle and don't really impact my viewing.