Piping Plover

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk III, 500mm f/4 + 2xII, 1/300, f/8, ISO 400
Evaluative metering at +1
Manual Fill Flash at -2
About 80% of Full Frame

Removed flash catchlight from eye.

Photographed last weekend on Plum Island in MA.

Looking forward to your comments and critiques ! <!-- / message -->

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely colours, BG and sharpness. The seaweed colours and textures add to the interest in the image. Maybe a little selective contrast boost to the eye is an option.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Gorgeous bird Mike.

Love everything about this one. The dark blob under the tail made my eyes go there immediately. It looks like a huge dust bunny, I know it is not that but...

[Ramon M. Casares]

Lovely pose, light, exposure control, detail, BG, colors and comp. Congratulations.

[Tim Zurowski]

Love this image Mike. perfect exposure and handling of the whites. The bit of seaweed really adds to the image and the low angle is perfect. I would lover to have an image of this good of this species in my files :)

[Jim Fenton]

Great plover image Mike.

I know that the status quo is for razor thin DOF...personally< I would have preferred a bit more so that the seaweed clump was in focus as well?

[Steve Maxson]

Very nice light, colors, sharpness on the bird, and background, Mike. I agree that the seaweed adds interest to the image. IMO, the image would have even more impact if you selected the pupil and darkened it. Glad to see that you removed the flash-generated catchlight as they almost never look natural, again, IMO. :)

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice as presented, Mike, great EXP control, placement in the frame and sharpness.

[Juan Aragonés]

Can´t take my eyes of this image. It is superb! The low angle is outstanding, the light too and the head turn... oh well, I am sure that you know all those things ;-)
Love the composition!

[Nagesh Mula]

Its a beautiful picture with a nice BG. I like the curious expression on the bird.