Western Sandpiper and Threadworm - Washington

[Ronan Donovan]

A windy and rainy day at Ocean Shores in Washington last year at this time. Froze my arse off, but in the end of was worth it. I used a foam sleeping pad to keep me dry on the wet sand (learned that after the mornings debacle of laying in the wet sand with high winds and rain. Had to stop shooting because of major vibrations coming from my shivering body). The action of pulling these tiny threadworms out of the sand happens in less than a second and I had been trying for hours to get a sharp, frame filler, of these speedy golf balls with legs zipping across the sand.

Specs:
Canon 5D Mrk II
Canon 800mm f/5.6L
Manual Exposure - 1/1000sec @ f/8
ISO 1000
Fill flash with Canon Speedlite 580 EX II ETTL @ zero.
Lightroom - Saturation +9, Vibrance +5
Selectively whacked some noise out of the background and sharpened the subject. Removed a blue color cast on the bird as well. 85% of full frame, so room to add if folks think necessary.

Looking for thoughts on the post processing as well as general composition.

Thanks in advance,

-Ronan


http://www.blog.ronandonovan.com/photos/online_posts/western_sandpiper.jpg

[Daniel Cadieux]

Well, all your "troubles" were certainly worth it as you captured what you set out to do. Perfect peak-of-action worm tugging action. I like the comp as is - good choice. Interesting effect - almost painterly. I can't decide if I find it too contrasty, saturated and bright, or if it has a certain "je ne sais quoi" about it that piques my interest. I'd look into removing some of the highlights on the bill. In any case, I really enjoy this image.

[Randy Stout]

Ronan:

Perfect timing of the worm stretch.

On my monitor, the whites are too hot. Even if they aren't tech. blown, I am not seeing much detail in some of the feathers. I took a quick pass at it doing a selection of the hot areas and running a linear burn mode, but still not able to tease out any detail in some areas.

You can probably reconvert it and get more detail.

Excellent shooting angle and I like the crop.

Cheers

Randy

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ronan,
Agree with Randy on the whites......if you can recover them.....this will go up a notch or two as the action you captured is super! HAP may get you for a bit off.....but not that off for my tastes.....so works for me!

[Ronan Donovan]

All,

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

Here is a repost attempting to achieve what was recommended;
-taken out highlight spots on the beak
-brought back some lost detail in the whites
-brought down the brightness in general of the bird
-cleaned up catch-light in the eye (might be too big?)
-and left the blue color cast in the background (original post I'd added in some yellow to remove the blue).

Thoughts a suggestions on the repost?

Thanks for your time,

-Ronan


http://www.blog.ronandonovan.com/photos/online_posts/western_sandpiper_repost.jpg