Another little avocet

Canon 7D
Canon 500/4 + 1.4x

1/3200 sec f/6.3 ISO 640 Tripod/Gimbal

Viveza 2
CS6 Crop for comp and sharpening
Noiseware Pro on BG

Grrrrr ... now that I look, it needs a hair of CCW ...

Attachment 129778

Hi Ian,
You have captured a wonderful moment.
Lovely light and great drinking pose.
Is this a big crop? If it is then that explains the coarse details on the chick but if this is not a crop greater than 40% ie. 60% FF then you are doing something wonky in PP. Would love to see the original so I can play with it because this is a shot that is worth some more work.
I would also do more NR on the BG. Another thought- was this underexposed?
Gail

Gail, thanks for commenting and I will go back when I'm at home and take some looks. I don't think it's underexposed, but need to go back and look at the histogram. It was cropped but, if I recall correctly, not a huge amount. What do you mean by 'coarse details'?

Ian, sweet shot. Believe it is the first of the kind for me. Love the eye and the fluffy feathers. Agree with you on the CCW. I might run NR on the background and a slight crop from the top. Certainly a very nice image.

Gary.

Nice image Ian
The colours look nice and the exposure looks good to me on my monitor
I suppose the chick got a bit wet making those feathers under look different when they are sharpened

I agree with the CCW rotation, also withGary for the BG noise reduction, i find this pic really misses the full reflection the version i see if more of reflection and less of top blank space in case you have a version like that i would be thrilled to see it, will take it over the top IMO

This must have been a great experience to be this close to a chick. Agree on the NR, I also think a lower angle could have improved the image.

Nice drinking pose and nicely coloured water, Ian.