Juvenile long-billed dowitcher

[Flavio Rose]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2540/4036519602_28e353e728_o.jpg (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/%3Ca%20href=)

XTi + 400 f/5.6, ISO 1600 (oops), 1/800, f/7.1, taken in the San Francisco Bay Area on October 17, full frame reduced to Web size. I think this is a juvenile long-billed dowitcher on account of the orange coloring plus the observed sewing machine motion characteristic of dowitchers. I'm wondering if maybe more USM of head and neck would help. I'm also feeling that I should have gotten on my stomach: this was taken sitting on the ground. Any comments would be most appreciated.

[Lance Peters]

Hi - Lying flat on the ground certainly would have been a option worth exploring. Looks just a little flat on my screen - I would go and set a white and black point in P.S. - ctrl+l Hold down ALT and slide the left hand slider until you start to see something show and then back it off a tad - Likewise for the RHS slider.
Also would add some additional sharpening, I was lazy applied it to the whole image - best to selectively sharpen the bird only.
Not perfect by any means but gives you the idea..

[Alfred Forns]

Good repost Lance !!!

We are going to start doing some extra PS right here in ETL btw what Lance is outlining is usually my first step in the workflow. Those sliders are in Levels !!

As presented would also like to see more room around the bird, feels sort of tight!!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Flavio,
I like the capture, I too would have liked to have seen a lower capture angle if possible...Mr. Peters' repost gave it the extra punch...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Hi Flavio, I really like Lance's repost. Might add a bit more canvas at the bottom if you have it. Worth a rework in RAW I think. Nice capture.

[Flavio Rose]

Thank you very much for your advice. I really like Lance's repost. I redid it but with USM only on the front half of the bird, which looks even better to me. I should have set EC +1/3 or +2/3 in the field, I guess, on account of the overcast conditions.