white rumped sandpiper

[Faraaz Abdool]

Hello all

Not sure how I feel about this one - maybe the reed just behind the bird needs to be removed, in the process of purchasing a computer right now...so I guess eventually I'll get immersed in the digital darkroom. Going thru a bunch of old shots that I'd like to know how you guys feel about...

Canon 7D | 400mm | 1/1000s | f/7.1 | Fill flash @ -2 | ISO 400 | AI Servo

[Marina Scarr]

Your self critique is on the money with relation to the reeds directly behind the bird. You have an ice pose, reflection and interesting habitat but that reed detracts. Glad to see you used some flash with this one. It shows the catch light nicely. I do notice however that your bird is a little underexposed which can easily be remedied with a levels adjustment. However for future reference, my favorite technique for "fill flash" is to take a reading without my flash on. Once I have ascertained my corrected settings, I then adjust my fill flash accordingly to open up the shadows.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Faraaz,

How does the histogram look, that is the true measure of exposure. Looks likes the opportunity here is light,. remember you shot the light not the subject and the eye is in a shaded area. I assume the flash was ETTL, what was the distance to the subject the eye and body facing the lens needs more light.

Always try and move and work the subject for the best way to represent the the scene to your viewers; in this case any elements that intersect with the body can be suspect and often do not add value to the image.

The subject is a bit too centered for me,..use the paper test,..take a piece of note book paper on the monitor and find the best subject placement - thanks for posting,..keep em coming.

[Kerry Perkins]

Faraaz, I have to agree that the one plant poking right through the bird should go away. Light is definitely an issue here, starting with the sun angle which was not optimal. You could have used more fill flash, remember that in this situation you are trying to outshine the sun which is a tall order. I would crop from the right so that one plant that looks like a small tree is evicted. I am seeing a slight rotation issue too, need to rotate the image a little bit CCW. There is an easy way to see when you image is level when you have a reflection like this. If you draw a vertical line (use a grid or move the image so that part of it is cut off on your monitor) and place it at an easily identifiable spot like the eye, the two features should lie precisely along that line. If the reflection is on a different place along that line from the original, then there is a tilt.

[Faraaz Abdool]

Guys,

Thanks a lot for your words. You are all correct - I was working in terrible sun angle. In fact, I was facing the sun most of the time I was there on that day. It was frustrating with all the birds choosing to be on the wrong side of the solid ground. It was a lesson in "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" :-).

I understand the need to use a higher power fill flash - I realize that there is still a line of shadow across the bird's face, and of course, as Marina said, the bird is a little underexposed. I had still wanted to capture the effect of the sun coming from where it was, while at the same time exposing the bird as best as I could've. The rest of the scene was quite bright, being in full sunlight.

Jeff - I can't remember the exact subject to camera distance, but I believe it was about 15'. Flash exposure compensation was set manually. In retrospect I could've used -1 or even a higher power.

Kerry - Great tip on checking if an image needs rotation! Never thought of it, but I'm sure it's something that I'll use in the future!

[John Chardine]

Good comments above. It would be very easy to "open up" the bird during RAW development or in post processing. I bet you can't wait to get your computer!

[Faraaz Abdool]

Thanks for your words John. Spot on about that new computer thing. It's here, so the wait is over!