Least Sandpiper

[gail bisson]

Canon 1D MKIV
F 4.0 500mm and 1.4XIII converter
ISO 800/ SS 1/1000/ F 6.3
Manual, on lowered tripod, 7-56AM
Cropped to vertical from horizontal so ~ 40% crop
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[laurie golden]

Gail,

Great shot. I love the grass and the fact that the sandpiper is looking at you instead of down as we usually see them. Very nice water/background too.

[Jack Breakfast]

Gail, one of my favorites of yours. A gorgeous and most artful portrait. An unusual shot of this fine bird, I'd dare say. Very well done.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Gail I really like this. The reeds add alot and I like the soft hue of the water

[Robert Holguin]

Such a wonderful image. I really like the l light, excellent pose, love the tall grass, and excellent comp.
Very well done.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

I like the composition and the grass, good pose and very nice soft water and bg.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

I like the bird and reeds, eye contact, clean BG.

This image lends itself to lots of cropping options. I would be tempted to try a horizontal with more negative space to the left to balance the mass of the reeds and bird. Because the reflection is fairly weak, it leaves you lots of options on your crop.

I like it as posted, I am just always working on composition options!

Cheers

Randy

[Joe Senzatimore]

Very artistic image. great angle on the bird, and the grass adds so much. Has lots of viewer appeal. Sweet light as well.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, I like this lots. I feel the vertical was the right way to go, and a great eye from you for the overall setting. Nice angle from the Sandpiper, and although no one has mentioned it, something is bugging me about the rotation - maybe a touch of CCW rotation.

[Don Nelson]

Love the composition on this one - well seen and very well executed. I really like the rock and plant in the image. And the blues of water and sky are subtle and work well.

[Shawn Zierman]

Lovely image with a sweet sense of scale...bird/vegetation.
I agree with all of the positive comments.
In this scenario, as a suggestion, trading some shutter speed
for a f-stop of say f9, would have rendered the vegetation
more in focus, which would have improved the image imo.
Looks like you had plenty of light to work with.
Rotation looks good to me...plenty level.

[David Salem]

Hi Gail,

Good Job on this very artistic offering. These are the kind of images that I strive for. Not just a picture of a bird but an image of interest and feeling. The reeds make the scene. You might try bumping up the saturation a little. Nice one!

David

[dankearl]

Very nice minimalist look to this. I agree with Randy on the crop, a lot of options, a Horizontal would be interesting.

[Satish Ranadive]

Gail,
Absolutely superb image.Diffuse reflection of bird and grass makes the composition wonderful.
Love extremely beautiful color combination in the frame.I like water rings around the legs,lights and nice details.

Regards,
Satish.

[Melvin Grey]

Gail, a lovely sensitive image. Very nice composition and lovely subtle tones. The elements could not have been better placed if you had 'Art Directed' the bird!!!!

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details and eye contact, Gail.