White Headed Plover

[Brendan Dozier]

Also called a White Headed Lapwing - bird sanctuary at animal park. s&h, curves, levels, cleaned up some spots on bill, sharpening. I think the hooks on its breast are used for mating - anyone know?

7D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM +2.0x
1/30
9.0
Evaluative Metering
Exp. Comp. -2/3
ISO 200

C & C welcome and appreciated

- Brendan

[Ben_Sadd]

That is a serious looking bird.

I think opening up the midtones would improve the image.

With the 7D you could have also increased the iso up to at least 2 stops to get a little more dof to try and get the beak tip.

No idea what the hooks are for exactly, but I guess it is likely the result of sexual selection.

[Arthur Morris]

Crazy wattles and bird. It is rare that I suggest the need for additional d-o-f but his one needs it especially to sharpen up the wattles. I love the head on look.

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks for the input guys, I did not know that increasing the ISO in 7D increases DOF, great tip.
Probably should have gone to f10 or 11 as well

[Stu Bowie]

Brendan, I like the head on capture, and shows the wattles from a different perspective. I agree more DOF would have been better here.

[James Salywoda]

I agree about a bit more dof but still a great looking portrait Brendan

[Mital Patel]

this is beautiful. i love lapwings annoying their voice though still i love. Sociable and yellow wattled are my fav. This image resembles to the yellow wattle just that this one has white and grey body instead brown of yellow-wattled :)

lovely closeup

[Ben_Sadd]

Thanks for the input guys, I did not know that increasing the ISO in 7D increases DOF, great tip.
Probably should have gone to f10 or 11 as well

Brendan,

Just to make this clear, increasing the ISO alone will not increase DOF. However, it will mean that you have more light sensitivity and so you can then change the aperture and get more DOF.

I find the noise on the 7D is acceptable at ISO 800 and can be ok at 1600, but you definitely need to expose to the right.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Brendan, great head on portrait showing the main features of the bird and good eye contact. Good suggestions above re iso and dof .

In South Africa this bird is known as a White-crowned Lapwing. The hooks are Carpal Spurs and extend from the elbow joint on the wings. The exact function is not known but it is thought that they are used in skirmishes.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Brendan, mena looking bird. wouldn't want to get in fight with one. I like portraits of this kind. Very well done. I am thinking additional sharpening of the eye will make it better.

Agree with others that stopping down further for more DOF would have been better. Since we are not used to, we don't realise how shallow the DOF is at point blank range.

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks again to everyone. Appreciate your feedback very much. And Ben I totally mis-read what you wrote - thought it was something exclusive to 7D. Have the basic concept of relation of DOF and smaller aperture size (larger number), just need to apply it more as I get more experience and think my shots out more carefully.

I thought f9 would be enough, I was even proud of myself for going from 5.6 to 9!!, but as I look at Art's and all of the great shots on BPN, I see a pattern for getting DOF in close-ups (and of course it depends on the angle of the head & body to the sensor) I think around 11 or 12 would have probably covered it for this one.

- Brendan