Black-bellied Plover

[denise ippolito]

Canon 40D
500mm +1.4 ex
1/640 sec. at f/ 7.1
ISO 250
Tripod
Sandy Hook 3 days ago in AM
BG is the ocean


Is this HA okay? I liked it alot and thought it was cute- but I'm not sure if this is something I should avoid in the future when shooting.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Simply beautiful Denise. Love the pose and head tilt as well as the wonderful low angle. Excellent detail and a very clean and pleasing BG. Fine work !!

[Kiran Khanzode]

Lovely low angle, lots of detail and great light. I like it the way it is.

[Bill Jobes]

The angle here is very compelling, Denise.

Background is exquisite, and the inquisitive head turn is very engaging.

I love the exposure, as it gives superlative tone depth to the colors.

Simply beautiful!

[Malcolm Benn]

I like the HA, almost as if the bird was trying to figure out what you were doing and amazingly low shooting angle, almost as if you were lower than the bird. Beautiful image.

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Denise, nothing wrong with the HA to me - infact pretty cool tilted slightly sideways. Lovely soft light, and I like the exposure and detail. Is he standing behind a sand dune that we cant see the feet. I feel a slightly higher angle from you wouldnt have spoilt the perspective, and you may have still got the feet in too.

[Danny Laredo]

This is sweet Denise.
Love the light and compo.

[denise ippolito]

Thankyou everyone for your comments. I appreciate them all.
Stuart, The bird was standing behind a sand mound at the edge of the ocean. I had been taking shots of a small group of Sanderlings in the dunes. I kept hearing a churp and turned to see what all the noise was. I was sitting down-I may have been able to get to my knees for a better angle, but not w/o disturbing it. I do see your point. I was able to capture some other images during the moring which inc. it's feet.

[Jim Fenton]

Like the light, exposure, sharpness and the inquisitive look denise.

Typically when they are looking up like this, I either find a jet or a really high raptor that I can barely even see :)

I would have preferred the feet visible also would have preferred to have at least some portion of the substrate in focus. I realize that given your position, that wasn't going to happen on this particular image.

[Randy Stout]

Denise:

Jim covered my feelings perfectly here. Techs are great, pose engaging, only the OOF and lack of feet holds it back for me. In general, I like low shooting angles, but I like some sense of where the bird is standing/sitting, as opposed to stuck in the OOF foreground.

I appreciate, sometimes its not possible, just something to 'shoot' for.

Randy

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

I agree about the OOF band cutting over the feet, but I also understand your limitations/concerns about flushing this fella away. For me personally I'm not fond of this HA for a simply standing bird...I wouldn't mind it if it were sitting, or crouched in a scared/frozen pose - but I don't think you should avoid this either. Perfect exposure and sharpness, and the quality of the light looks pretty darn good...

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like everything about this image except the clipped feet, I understand the difficulty, though.

[David Fletcher]

Works for me Denise. Perfect. The HA creates interest and the simplifies layers make a very pleasing image. No issues with feet. Well done.

[Fabs Forns]

I love that curious look, very well exposed and lots of feather detail. Loosing the feet is a proce we pay sometimes for a low angle.

[Gal Shon]

Simply beautiful Denise. Love the pose and head tilt as well as the wonderful low angle. Excellent detail and a very clean and pleasing BG. Fine work !!
I agree with every word. well done.
Not really bothered by the clipped legs.

[Scott Elowitz]

Hi Denise, I think HA is great as is the bird and feather detail. I personally would like to see the feet. I hope to see you on the hook someday.

[denise ippolito]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Much appreciated.
Scott, I look forward to meeting you. Your work is most impressive:)

[Harshad Barve]

Hey Denise
You have nailed this bird left , right and center :D:D

another beautiful image ,
TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

Love the HA. totally go for it. Looks like she is giving you some attitude :) techs spot on. Congrats

[denise ippolito]

Thankyou Harshad and Arash, I appreciate you both taking the time to comment.