Greater Yellowlegs

I am not sure about photos with OOF birds, but I liked this one.
Taken this morning at a local pond, Fall is here and the birds are migrating around.

1/500
f5.6
600mm (300f2.8 w. 2X)
iso450

DSC_2056nx.jpg

I'm not sure either, but the in focus bird looks very nice.
The OOF bird would be very hard to get rid of, so I would leave it there.

Love the water color.

To me, the OOF bird is a problem for two reasons....it is bright on the breast and distracting and the main subjects head clips the butt end of the back bird.

The biggest issue is that the bird is looking away from you which is too bad as the exposure and sharpness on that bird looks just fine.

There is a dark blob dead center above the subjects head.

My other issue which may not bother others is the high;lights on the water out beyond the main subject...especially towards the OOF individual.

It takes a lot of practice, understanding what the birds are doing, how they are moving and why so that you can place yourself for optimal position or so that you know when a bird is working your way such that you can photograph it in an optimal potion.

Sharp with a good EXP. I'm fine with the o-o-f yellowlegs as it is nicely juxtaposed with the in focus bird (and the breast does not look bright at all from here). This image needs two good head angles to succeed but only has one.... What is the gray shape above the in focus bird?

very nice low angle and composition, I am fine with the OOF bird too however I agree with Artie that it needs a better HA. keep them coming :)

Thanks for the comments. Jim, I really appreciate the honest critique, I took a lot of photos, some with better HA, but I wanted
reaction to this one in particular with the OOF bird.
Arthur, the "blog" is a boulder in the pond, I sometimes just overlook things like that, but it was easy to get rid of.
Arash, I agree on the HA and also appreciate your always helpful comments.
A repost without the boulder, I toned down the OOF bird a bit, I don't love the water highlights, but it was a stormy, windy day
so can't do much about them.

DSC_2056nx2.jpg

Real nice shot. The oof yellow legs doesn't bother me at all. Great exposure and real nice detail. Well done.