collared Plover

[manuel grosselet]

Hi Pixers,

Coming back of the southern part of Oaxaca State, Mexico. I gave a quick trip to a wonderful place call Xadani. Just to see if the shorebirds was present or not.
I get this first year Collared Plover (resident species) mixed with other shorebirds.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/3755018905_ef9a58f75f.jpg?v=0
Any suggestions on how to improve the pictures (during the action, and after front of photoshop).
Canon MArkIII, 300 mm 2,8, conv 1.4, no flash, flat on the mud, handled, 1/4000 s, F4,0, manual mode, ISO 250
Thanks
Manuel
www.tierradeaves.com

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the pose and head angle in this one. It looks a bit oversharpened and the BG is quite noisy for ISO 250. Did you sharpen the entire image? If you could post a larger version, let's say 700 pixels high, it would be easier to comment on specifics. Keep them coming!

[Aidan Briggs]

Nice light, and stretching pose. The BG is noisy, so you might try running NR on it. There is a dust spot in front of the birds bill. I would also like to see the image larger. You really can't judge IQ at this small size.

Keep them coming.

P.S. Me and Axel were typing at the same time.

[manuel grosselet]

Axel,

thanks, I have 800 pixels height so 700 should be smaller??...I am far away of a super duper Photoshop user, and photographer. I am using CS version. About noise reduction, How I get that. And I sharpe the all pictures. Do i should share just a part?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Axel,

thanks, I have 800 pixels height so 700 should be smaller??...I am far away of a super duper Photoshop user, and photographer. I am using CS version. About noise reduction, How I get that. And I sharpe the all pictures. Do i should share just a part?

You can post images up to 800 pixels high. It usually works better if you only sharpen the subject to avoid introducing noise in the background. That way you probably don't have to use noise reduction. There is a good thread discussing several noise reduction methods in the educational resources forum. You can check it out here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23825

[Daniel Cadieux]

I agree with the boys above, so I won't repeat. I will say that you got excellent exposure, and great timing at the peak of the wingstretch. Too bad about the out-of-focus (OOF) element in the LRC - if the bird was cooperative and reletively immobile you could have moved a bit left to prevent it from being in the frame. Once you learn and become more familiar with PS you will be able to easily get rid of the dust spot and two light "clumps" below the bird by using either the clone or patch tools.

The excellent link Axel points you to is found in the "Educational Resources" forum...a place where you'll find alot of great advice, tips, and tutorials - lots pertaining to Photoshop ;-)

[Ramon M. Casares]

Great pose and low angle, nice BG, detail and HA. To me it could use more contrast and more saturation, also agree that bigger it would look better.
Congratulations!

[Arthur Morris]

Most of the good and not so good has been covered above, but as a fellow shorebird lover, I just wanted to say "Hi." The whole thing looks dark, and a tiny bit of the toe is behind a rock. The double overhead wingstretch pose is killer.

If you want to learn Photoshop I can strongly suggest my Digital Basics File: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=30