Stilt Sandpiper

[Nancy Bell]

Photographed at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas last week as I crossed the drought-stricken mid-west. Belly-crawled across the mud and competed with a persistent Peregrine Falcon for a good "capture". I liked the little fly following the sandpiper.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 400 f4 DO + Canon 1.4x, 1/3200, f7.1, ISO 800, exp. comp. +1/3

All comments and critiques greatly appreciated.

[Ryan Schain]

I like the light, angle, and background. I would remove that piece of debris behind the bird, and wish for a more engaging head angle.

[Don Nelson]

Interesting pose. Good capture. I like the position of the right foot with the head down although HA isn't great.
I'm not a fan of the fly. Eliminating the fly allows a new crop moving the bird to the left
Consider sharpening the head/neck a bit more.
Cleanup of a few of the darker mud blobs would help; leaving the ones that are in focus but those darker ones in the reat that are behind the focal plan.

[Marina Scarr]

Great low angle on this one, Nancy, and I like the raised foot. I like the bug in the BG but would move your bird a little bit to the left b/c it seems quite centered. Did you add the catchlight?

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Nancy, good suggestions above. 'keep fly' or 'not having the bird centered'? my personal choice would be the latter.

good job getting low and nailing the pose.

[Shawn Zierman]

Excellent low angle. Nice sense of subject movement and intent. The bird clearly looks to be foraging to
me, so the head angle is fine imo. Compositionally, I think it's just right. Including the insect adds interest,
and as is, there is still more room in front of the bird than behind it, so while it's close to centered, it's not
unpleasingly so. The light quality is the main detractor for me...it could be much nicer, but....if this was
when you chose to shoot, what are you gonna do....Nice looking worn adult plumage on this one....

[Arthur Morris]

Love the bird and do not mind the fly; you could always move the fly.... It looks as if sharpest focus was on the side of the bird. That plus what looks like some motion blur to me has left the head unacceptably soft.... And foraging or not, the head needed to be at least square to the imaging sensor. See you in Santiago, Chile soon. Are you guys doing the two bus trips?

[Frank Schauf]

Sweet light, nice low angle. Great capture. Nancy.

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and comments. Will work on the image some more.

Artie, no bus trips. We're meeting some friends while in Santiago. Time flies and mid-Oct. will be here very soon.

[Arthur Morris]

Are they photography friends?