Buff-breasted Sandpiper

[Richard Stern]

There have been some outstanding Buff-breasted pics posted recently in the Avian forum. The problem with this bird is that the background sloped up behind it, so I couldn't get any lower. I did some selective blurring and desat. on the bacckround. What do people think?

Ol,ympus OM-D EM-5, Panasonic 100-300 M4/3 lens (my latest gear),

1/1000. f/6.3, ISO 200, pattern metering

Thanks,

Richard

[Karen Forderer]

I like it. It is nice and sharp. It is separated nicely from the background. I find that when I take sandpiper photos, they blend into the background too much.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Richard,

I like the low angle and splendid detail in the feathers. Was the light a bit harsh (time of day and weather conditions) and does the histogram show any clipping on the right. Looks like some whites might be hot in places, I could be wrong here. Regarding the composition, I might take a vey small layer from the bottom. Tell me more about your post process what s/w is utilized and I like your new gear, please keep em coming.

[Kerry Perkins]

Richard, if you are going to shoot bright subjects in harsh light you need to under-expose by about 2/3 stop. To my eye (and the eye of Digital Color Meter), this image is over-exposed. Harsh light makes harsh images. Your composition is good, but the exposure and color need to be reconsidered. Exposing to the right is a sound principle, but when there is white in the scene you need to stay to the left of the right, if that makes any sense.

[John Chardine]

Hi Richard- There seems to be a mini-influx of these great sandpipers in the east.

I like the pose and head angle of the bird and the composition. As mentioned it needs to be toned down some and that can easily be done either to the whole image or selectively in Adobe Camera Raw or Digital Photo Professional. Give that a try. This would also act to saturate the image a little more, which I think it needs. The eye catchlight looks a bit funky.