Spotted sandpiper and my 100-400

Canon 1D MKIV
100-400mm at 400mm
manual, HH, cropped by 35%, cloudy afternoon
SS 1/800
F 7.1
ISO 800
As some of you may know, my f 4.0 500mm is in the shop being repaired ( the tripod collar jammed). I was feeling sorry for myself and thought there was no point in going out to our pond to try to shoot small birds. But then I thought about Daniel's amazing shots with his 100-400mm and gave myself a kick in the a** and took myself out there.
I had a great time. I had forgotten how easy it is to move around with the 100-400 and one can react quickly to position changes without a tripod and the weight of the 500mm. One definitely has to work harder to get closer to the bird though.
So thanks Daniel for your inspiring work!!
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from,
Gail

Gail, this is a very nice image, I like the soft colors of the BG. Exposure and pose are excellent. TFS

Good thinking, Gail, and it paid off. The pastel background is gorgeous, and the sandpiper's pose is terrific. The perch is a bit dominant to me. I could imagine cropping 1/3 to 1/2 of the perch from the botom, which might also have the advantage of losing the brightest part of the bg along the bottom, which isn't nearly as stunning as the portion above.

Gail, I like the crop with the perch as presented because of how the perch leads my eye to the bird. Great HA & stunning BG. FWIW, I think the 1-4 is falsely maligned.

Hi Gail - my initial thought was to crop from the bottom to where the blue-green bg starts and to lessen the dominance of the perch (assuming IQ will hold up since this is already a crop). Very nice pose, HA and sharpness. I like the versatility of the 100-400 but I mostly shoot larger wildlife.

TFS,
Rachel

What a nice look at this lovely bird! I've been thinking a lot about the 100-400 myself...I keep waiting for the updated version?! Anyhow, I like the soft sweetness here and would crop a little off the bottom to lose some of the perch...

Definitely worth going out ... gorgeous BG!
I like the small in the frame approach but I would move the bird a bit more to the right in the frame.
The perch doesn't bother me but I might tone down the brightest part of it a bit.

Lovely shot, Gail, I also think a bit to the right would look good and the IQ is such that a tad larger crop
would work well.

Thank you for all the eyes on this. Composition is definitely my weak point, especially when combined with my severe reluctance to crop any image more than 25%. ( Somehow, anything more than 25% is unpalatable to me personally). I also burned the perch a bit.
Hope the repost ticks all the boxes.
Gail

Both are very nice, something for everyone, I don't like to crop but think the second is better just because of the uniform background color. I have heard Cannon people say that is is hard to get a good background with that lens, looks like you are doing just fine.

Much better to my eye, Gail. Well done.

Hey Gail, this is excellent. Great job. The bg, perch and bird are all gorgeous. The IQ is great and I love that both feet are visible.
Here's a repost with a slightly different crop and brightness reduced just a tad. Hope you don't mind.

Gail, Definitely worth going out and 400mm is good enough hand held as you can always get few steps closer by moving slowly. I like the IQ , Pose, visible feet and BG...Exposure looks spot on and I would like a version somewhere between your re post and what Sidharth did.

All reposts look fine. Loved them all , but the first is a real sweet shot. Perhaps a bit too much room , but the clarity and detail make up for that. That is a very sharp lens , so don't be afraid to crop.

Beautiful portrait, great pose and colours.

nice image,great pose,magic BG,thanks.

Hey Gail, glad I could be of inspiration for you! Lovely Spotted Sandpiper and love the colour of the BG. I like the OP and Sid's repost best. When it comes to cropping I'm like you in that if I have anything less than 75% of FF left I am not satisfied even though I know the IQ can take it!

This is a super portrait! I agree that all the reposts look very good to me. Love the beautiful background and detail on the subject! Very well exposed as well.

Superbly done!

Wonderful, Gail. glad you pulled out the 100-400! You got a real keeper here. I really love the colors, the exposure, the sharpness. Excellent job. As for crop I would prefer something in between your two.

Hi Gail, great angled pose, and I like how the Sandpiper is perched proudly on top. Lovely soft colours to your BG, and I have to go with Sid's version with regards to placement. Your repost is on the right track, if you took some off the top. :w3

I love Sidharth's crop the best! O o o o! Another vote for the 100-400!

Excellent shot. Lovely soft light, wonderful background, great pose, exposed perfectly, and all crops look good.
Well done.