Stretching semipalmated...

[P-A. Fortin]

... plover. ID should not be an issue this time

At first I wished the waves did not bring this much wood debris on the shore, but the more I look at it and the less I'm bothered about it.

Canon 7D, 400mm @ f/7.1, ISO 400, 1/1000. Flash with Harbor Extender @ -2 EV

Cropped for composition. NR on background. First experiments with Nik Tonal Contrast and Detail Extractor filters. Also cloned out a second catchlight in the eye.

Comments and suggestions appreciated as usual.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The colour of the legs would actually indicate this one to be a Least Plo....nah, just messin' with ya! I rather like this stretching pose with the foot above the body, I have not seen this in a photo before. Techs and details look very good P-A. Nice comp too. Processing-wise you could darken the brighter area above the back as it draws the eye a bit (try with the burn tool, a soft brush about half the size of the area in question, set to midtones, and an opacity of 6 to 8%). You can also darken the FG this way too. A strong effort...way to go!

[Clyde Hopper]

P-A ,Not a thing I can complain about here . I like everything about the capture ,and agree the foot stretch is a plus .

[jack williamson]

Gorgeous light and an excellent pose. Fine use of flash.

Jack

[P-A. Fortin]

The colour of the legs would actually indicate this one to be a Least Plo....nah, just messin' with ya!

I almost screamed when I started to read this. For some reason, I feared someone would try to pull something like this on me. Although I expected it to be about a collar ringed plover...

Processing-wise you could darken the brighter area above the back as it draws the eye a bit (try with the burn tool, a soft brush about half the size of the area in question, set to midtones, and an opacity of 6 to 8%).

Thanks for the suggestion (and especially the "how-to"). Here's a repost with such adjustments. Looks better indeed.

[edwardselfe]

Lovely image - I think the wood is a plus as there are MANY 'clean' plover images out there which all compete to have the perfect head-angle etc, but yours is a bit different and I like it. I might be tempted to reduce clarity a tiny bit on the background just to smooth it a bit more, but I don't think it's crucial. Nice pic - looks very natural.
Ed