Black-bellied Plover

[Grace Scalzo]

1/3200, f 5.6, ISO800
Canon 1Dmk4, 500 f4 + 1.4tc + ground pod

[Craig Kerr]

I like the attentive stance and head angle with the background complementing the image beautifully

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Grace, lovely pose from your low angle. I like the slightly raised foot, and hint of the ripple. Yes, your comp works as is, but would loooove to see this in a traditional landscape showing off more of that fantastic BG.

[Randy Stout]

Grace:

Your bird is sharp, well exposed, lovely BG, pose, still water. Nice shooting angle, the only downside being the distorted reflection. I can see a landscape version as Stuart suggested with at least a portion of the reflection cropped off.

Cheers.

Randy

Oh, I also tried a gradient coming up from the bottom with reduced exposure, to downplay the reflection. Interesting effect, probably not your cup of tea.

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent shot with very nice soft background, Grace.

[laurie golden]

Grace,

I love the bird and the background. Agree with Randy about the reflection.

[Joe Senzatimore]

How sweet is this? The graduated Bg and reflection are super. And you know I am a big fan of that great low angle you work so hard to get.

[gary ellwein]

Alot to like Grace. The complimentary bg is superb. The exposure of the subject has the lights and darks nicely under control. The others have commented on the other highlights of the image.

[Arno Ellmer]

Very elegant and minimalistic image,Grace.In a strange way the blurred reflection actually adds to the image ,IMHO.Lovely pose and complementary bg.Would also like to see in landscape comp. Excellent !

[Doug Brown]

Wonderful portrait Grace. Very serene thanks to the gorgeous BG and calm water. Great eye contact too. I like your choice of crop but I'd consider going in a little tighter, eliminating most of the water below the reflection.

[dankearl]

Very serene and the BG is superb.
I too, think a horizontal crop would look nice.

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks everyone. Appreciate your thoughts on the comp. No need to rework this one in landscape format because the bird came closer and I have ff shots . That's one of the beauties of laying flat, the birds just seem to think I'm some kind of beach debris and walk right over. Will share one of those with you tomorrow.

[Jack Breakfast]

Beautiful, elegant, striking! I wish birds would think I was some kind of beach debris as that is quite often how I see myself. Bingo!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like this one as is, including the reflection even though distorted. The colour bands in the BG loos fantastic. Great techs and low angle. Hey, I was doing my best "beach debirs" thing this weekend too!

[Josh Clark]

Love the composition and gradient BG. The low angle worked great here!

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image Grace! I like the low angle, IQ, pose, BG and composition. Look forward to seeing the other images.

[christopher galeski]

itsall been said Grace,beautiful image,well done.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent image, Grace well done.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Talk about a nice subject on a clean background. Well done!

[David Pugsley]

Beautiful in its simplicity. Nicely done.
Cheers!

[Marina Scarr]

Saw you had posted a subsequent BBP so thought I had better check this one out first. While I love the BG colors and that low angle (nothing works as well as beach debris), I find this particular reflection too powerful and it pulls my eye away from your gorgeous bird and lovely colors. Looking forward to checking out your horizontal version now.