Common Sandpiper

[Jonathan Lethbridge]

I live quite near central London, and Common Sandpiper is a scare passage migrant, typically in late summer. We have a few ponds where I live, and so occasionally we get one drop in. 8 out of 10 are extremely wary and will not you get anywhere near them before they flick off to the other side (or further!), but every now and then you get a fearless one - this image is of such a bird. Unfortunately the margins of the ponds are pretty mucky, and it being London, you also struggle not to get litter in the shot. Hey, maybe a Sandpiper perched on a can of Heineken is what BPN has been missing? Anyhow, critique appreciated.
Cheers
Jonathan

ps, how do I get my image to show as a thumbnail in the list of posts?



1D4, Canon 800mm f5.6, ISO 400, 1/800s @f5.6, 0 EV, lens directly on monopod.

[gail bisson]

Hi Jonathan,
In order for your image to appear with a thumbnail you have to be a member.
You have a nice peep here.
I would take some off the bottom to above the green and crop in from the right to get rid of yellow stick. That would highlight the bird a bit more and get rid of some of that cluttered BG.
Nice low POV and reflection.
I would also tone down the white blob above the birds' head,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Jonathan:

Good input from Gail. In general, when you have a cluttered environment, working tighter to eliminate as much of the clutter as possible is a good way to go. Sometimes you are limited by focal length and loss of IQ from too much cropping, but it is always worth a quick trial crop!

Your urban environment must be a challenge for bird photography. Are there any large green areas in the city?
Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

That looks like a tough area to photograph in with all the clutter and what you describe as littered. you got good focus and details on the subject (which looks very similar to our Spotted Sandpiper!) Nice lowish angle, and calm water. BG is not ideal, but nicely depicts the habitat you find this guy in.

As Gail points out you need to be a paying member to be able to upload your images to BPN's server and subsequent thumbnail generated...

[Jonathan Lethbridge]

Thanks for the comments people, I'm going to work on it a little and repost it. How in photoshop does one tone down a specific area? That's not something I've done before.
Daniel, it's very very similar to Spotted Sandpiper - no spots, darker legs and bill, and longer tail - and this IS from one of the big green areas in the City!!
Thanks
Jonathan

[Jonathan Lethbridge]

Here's what I've done:

[Daniel Cadieux]

Although there is not much you can do about the messy background the closer crop and improved composition does make it seem less cluttered, with more emphasis on the subject.