Black-necked Stilt

[arash_hazeghi]

Stilt in flight

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1D4 700mm f/6.3 1/2000sec ISO 400. There are two catchlights the larger one is from the sun and the smaller one from the reflection. not sure whether to keep both or only the larger.

The stilts are a real workout to catch BTW!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great flight capture and I love those muddy feet. I am sorry to say thatI feel the head shows a little blur or my eyes are playin with me.Wing light is really nice too.

[Dan Busby]

Arash - what makes this one for me is the gorgeous leg color. Wing position is also good and the mud on the feet adds interest. Overall it looks a tad dark to my eye. I think I would remove the smaller eye catch.

[arash_hazeghi]

Arash - what makes this one for me is the gorgeous leg color. Wing position is also good and the mud on the feet adds interest. Overall it looks a tad dark to my eye. I think I would remove the smaller eye catch.

Here is one with BG pulled up and eye doctor work.

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[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Here is one with BG pulled up and eye doctor work.

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I think the repost works beter Arash That double CL was makin it funny.

[arash_hazeghi]

I think the repost works beter Arash That double CL was makin it funny.

Thanks for feedback Cheryl!
I think it is a matter of having observed the bird in real life and being familiar with the particular settings, where I live the stilts only live near water so there is always a reflection from the water if the sun is behind you, so I naturally expect to see two catchlights. Also I am not sure but I think this is due to the shape of the pupil that the primary catch light is always large and somewhat diffused compared to other similar shorebirds like Avocets or yellowlegs. For me the original looks natural and I can tell the repost is "edited" even if this was someone else's photo. :S3:


It would be interesting to learn what people think, I think there was a thread about double catch lights somewhere on the site?

[Ofer Levy]

Great pose, sharpness, detail, exposure and BG. Repost looks much better IMHO. Two catchlights simply don't work as they created a false impression of softness and it doesn't look natural - whether natural or not. Removing one is always the way to go IMO...:w3

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Lovely pose with the slightly open beak and perfect exposure. Great to get that red eye. Agree with Dan that the leg color in this one is just gorgeous. Like the repost with the single catchlight.
Great work Arash.

[Chris Kotze]

Super flight angle well captured and exposed.

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

I like the 2nd one, the eye looks much sharper. I agree stilts are really a workout when they fly!

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Lovely flight image , Arash . Like the repost better .

[Luis Villablanca]

Great wing position, lighting and exposure. Love the repost.
BTW, are you reading e-mail?

[arash_hazeghi]

Great wing position, lighting and exposure. Love the repost.
BTW, are you reading e-mail?

Hey Luis, my stanford email has expired so I can't access it anymore. use my gmail same user ID at gmail.com

[Alan Murphy]

Love the details in this one. Stunning image.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Thanks for feedback Cheryl!
I think it is a matter of having observed the bird in real life and being familiar with the particular settings, where I live the stilts only live near water so there is always a reflection from the water if the sun is behind you, so I naturally expect to see two catchlights. Also I am not sure but I think this is due to the shape of the pupil that the primary catch light is always large and somewhat diffused compared to other similar shorebirds like Avocets or yellowlegs. For me the original looks natural and I can tell the repost is "edited" even if this was someone else's photo. :S3:


It would be interesting to learn what people think, I think there was a thread about double catch lights somewhere on the site?

You know I think it's such a fragile line that seperates post processing or not when it comes to these kind of things as well as others for instance removing the twigs as suggested on my last image. I love digital for all the great things it does offer but it has so much changed our art of photography and I like it as much as I don't . Does that make sense? Before we had a choice , we would have really appreciated our images as they are without looking for the "what should I fix or remove? I'm not argueing the point by any means, just find myself in a different worl these days with the way we all look at our images . :wave:

[arash_hazeghi]

You know I think it's such a fragile line that seperates post processing or not when it comes to these kind of things as well as others for instance removing the twigs as suggested on my last image. I love digital for all the great things it does offer but it has so much changed our art of photography and I like it as much as I don't . Does that make sense? Before we had a choice , we would have really appreciated our images as they are without looking for the "what should I fix or remove? I'm not argueing the point by any means, just find myself in a different worl these days with the way we all look at our images . :wave:

Hey Cheryl,
I agree, Digital has revolutionized photography, at least it gives us the option to make the photos look nicer to all viewers :5

Thanks for feedback everyone!

[Stu Bowie]

Great capture Arash, and I agree these characters are fairly difficult to capture in flight. Good flying posture, and the muddy feet are a nice touch. IMHO, the repost with only one catchlight looks far better. :w3:w3 Cheers.

[ramesh anantharaman]

Like the repost. better. and the flight and light here are both brilliant.

[Pieter de Waal]

I prefer the repost Arash and love the light and detail on the near wing.

[Aidan Briggs]

Also prefer the repost. Great light, pose and sharpness!