Oystercatcher at Nickerson

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1D Mark IV
500mm +1.4 TC
Skimmer Pod

1/2500 sec
f/8
ISO 500

Taken at Nickerson Beach, NY, Monday morning, lying flat along the water's edge. I liked the tension to her body as she probes for prey, and the sense of the ocean beyond.
Some crop, clean up, whites recovery. Did not touch the bill in terms of saturation or desaturation. Do I need to desaturate?
Thank you kindly for any comments or critiques.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Melissa. Like the pose, eye contact, and low shooting angle. I'd be tempted to desaturate the bill just a tad. You have good detail throughout the exposure, but I think you were a little overly aggressive with your white recovery. Also I see a sharpening halo around the bird, most noticeable around the bill.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks Doug. I started at the beginning again. Desaturated the bill just a bit, and did NO white recovery on the breast, except a slight amount on the little white patch of wing feathers. Should I be lightening the breast? It's just that that's the way it really was, straight out of the camera.
I also pulled back on the sharpening a bit. Hope it's an improvement.

[Phil Richardson]

Melissa,
Nice detail throughout and great low angle. As you say, pose is dynamic. I have a few shots of Black Oystercatcher and I have had trouble with maintaining highlights in the legs, what with the black upper. You have done a very good job there. My Black's look a little less saturated in the bill, but could just be the species difference. edit: my comments on your first post. Didn't see your repost until I posted.

[Doug Brown]

Much better Melissa!

[Alan Murphy]

It does not get better than this. The low angle is appreciated and it brings us into the birds world. Great work.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose details and sweet light Melissa! this is a winner and the repost addressed all issues.

great shot TFS

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great low angle and feeding pose Melissa.

[Grace Scalzo]

Wonderful. Nice to really see sucn a complete image (Interesting subject, feeding behavior, and habitat). The slight curve of her neck is so much more artistic than if she was totally parallel to camera.

[Marina Scarr]

Repost addressed the issues of an already pleasing image. The low angle, bird's pose and vibrant colors really make this image special.

[Ofer Levy]

Excellent work Melissa! The repost looks awesome.

[gail bisson]

Well done Melissa.
Repost looks great.
No nits from me!
Gail

[Jim Crosswell]

Repost looks great. I like the low angle, feeding pose, details and light.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent in every way! I must admit I prefer the fine detail of the sharpening of the OP, but minus the halo around the bill. Great job, and way to go getting down low!

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot. The low angle is just great, exposed very well, details are superb, and the repost is much better..
Well done.

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent light, details and bg, Melissa.