Black Oyster Catcher

[Dave Leroy]

I tried to keep the effect of the setting sun in the photo and not sure how I did. I am working on getting close and so no cropping on this one. :cool:
50D, 400mm/5.6L , 1/400, ISO 800, f/5.6 and using a tripod.
Picture was taken on the ferry terminal causeway near Tsawwassen BC.

Dave

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Dave,
I like the composition and capture. you have good sharp details and good color rendition. The background is a bit distracting with the prominent out of focus bolder on the upper left side of the frame; along with the other scattered boulders. this takes the attention away from your main subject. I did a few changes to your image to illustrate my point. I cloned out the distracting out of focus objects, cloned in more blue, blurred the background and lightened it a tad. I also increased the saturation and contrast overall and selective sharpened the bird...:cool:

[Dave Leroy]

Thanks for the feedback Gus.
I like what you have done with the bg and will keep that in mind. I am always a little nervous about over doing both saturation and sharpening.

Dave

[Lance Peters]

Hi Dave - nice details in the blacks and sharp to boot - agree with gus's critique and would add feels a little tight at the bottom - bit more space would be nice.

:)

[denise ippolito]

Dave, Nice capture -I like the detail you got and your colors look good also-Like Gus' re-post and agree w/ Lance a little xtra on bottom wouldn't hurt-Good Show!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Nice capture Dave, were you crawling on rocks? Like the light reflecting on the face and good detail in the blacks. Just a bit more room for the feet would have been nice!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Dave Just tight at the bottom for me but don't mind the bg rocks Remember all our suggestions are personal taste. To me they balance the composition and without does not look natural.

Other things we suggest are sort of "rules" always meant to be broken but still strong guidelines. Ex the head angle, bg branches protruding through head, steep angles, bright bg objects etc.

I like the light on the bird, attentive pose and rocks. That same image taken flat on the rocks would have looked interesting !!! Excellent !!!

[SeanKP]

I'm with Alfred. I prefer the rocks in the background. I'd also like a tad more room at the bottom but a splendid shot all the same. Even with the crop factor of the 50D, I'm guessing you were pretty close to the bird. If they are half as skittish as our oystercatchers that is an achievement in itself.

Cheers.

Sean

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Dave:

First of all, do you live in the lowermainland of BC in the vicinity of Vancouver?

I like your photo very much and prefer the rocks in the background. As some mentioned a bit more room at the bottom I tried to do so. I would like to mention that using CAS does not work when object is very close to the edge. I used Robert O'Toole's Quick Mask tutorial obtained at http://www.birdsasart.com/aptats.htm I'm not as good as him, however, I think this will give you an idea.

Regards

Gus Hallgren aka Canuck

[Dave Leroy]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions.

The birds, there were two of them, were busy feeding and, as you may have noticed, moving about. I am trying to get my technigue squared away so i can consistently get the tack sharp photos that so many post here. Hence I am nervous about moving the focus point around to recompose and with a moving target to boot! I'll get there though.

It is fun making all the attempts!!

Dave

[Dave Leroy]

Hi Gus,

Thanks for the repost. You know, I have Robert's O'tooles APTATS-1 cd and have not looked at it yet. I have noticed others mention "adding canvas" so now you have ansered one of my concerns about recomposing a moving object. tks.

Yes I live in Tsawwassen so have lots of opportunities for photos of birds, unfortuantely lots of them are taken looking south, into the light. It sounds like you may be familiar with the area.

Dave

[Harold Davis]

awesome light leroy! love UG's repost.

[Julie Kenward]

It is awesome light. The only place I don't love the light is on the bird's legs. Are they really that color or did they get a bit overexposed? The rest of the image is very nice - both in the original and the reposts.

And a big kudos for not sticking the top of his head right on the horizon line between the water and the rocks. Way to watch what you're doing!

[Dave Leroy]

Thanks Julie. The relative position of the head was pure luck and blind luck at that; just one more thing to keep an eye out for !!

Yes, the legs were blown out and I tried to do some compensation for them and did not want to over do it.

Take Care,

Dave