Low level flight

[Thomas Block]

Another one from Fort DeSoto North beach in the morning.

Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)
EOS 20D, EF 300 4.0 IS 1/1600 F6.3 ISO 400, handheld

[Robert Amoruso]

Hi Thomas,

You got the catchlight in the eye, wing up position and a just right head angle - all pluses. Exposure looks right and colors good.

I would like to see more room above the bird and less below. I don't generally favor a lot of OOF FG below the subject.

[Jody Melanson]

Nice action captured here. Lots of detail. I agree with Robert about more room above.

[Blake Shadle]

Very well done. I agree with Robert and Jody on the position of the bird. Also there is a bit of noticable Shadow/Highlights effect around the bird, looks like a faint glow (please correct me if you did not use S/H). I really like the wing position, sharp focus, and the catch light. Catch light is very important with Skimmers, it helps seperate their eye from the black feathers around it.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Great catchlight in the eye!!!
I Iove the light,details and timing!

[Thomas Block]

You are right Blake, thanks! I guess I better work with a selection when using S/H to avoid this.

Thomas

[Bonnie Block]

Hi Thomas,
Beautiful image--great pose, light, and well timed. Nits have been mentioned

[Blake Shadle]

You are right Blake, thanks! I guess I better work with a selection when using S/H to avoid this.

Thomas

Be careful using a selection when doing S/H work, can lead to a hard line around your subject. Duplicate your BG layer and perform your S/H on the new layer, then mask the new layer, use the brush tool with a hardness of 0% to to paint the areas where you don't want the effects of S/H. (Probably not the best way of doing it, but I haven't learned any new tricks yet :))

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great pose and exposure control. I would just put the bird lower in the frame.

[Jim Poor]

When I use S/H, I set the radius to zero. That helps with the S/H halo.