American Avocet take-off

[Bill Dix]

The light was fading as this guy decided to leave the Baylands mudflats. C&C appreciated.

D7000, 700mm, ISO 1600, 1/2000s @ f/6.3 manual. I've been using fill flash more often, but for some reason didn't use it here. Don't know if it would have helped.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the wing position, trailing water, light and composition. Well done Bill.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent take off pose, nicely done, Bill.

[gail bisson]

This is really nice.
The trailing mud/water really is what makes this shot.Wings up pose is excellent as well.
I feel it could use a bit more saturation and contrast, to add a bit more punch,
Gail
PS As to the fill flash- how far away were you? I am not a lover/user of flash so am not really qualified to advise on your question.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Jim, Karl and Gail. I did feel it was a bit flat because the light was beginning to dull out. I had boosted contrast and saturation in the OP, but wasn't aggressive enough. Here's a repost with a little more of both, plus a tiny bit more Topaz Detail - I was afraid too much would bring out noise because of the high ISO. Anyway, I think this does have a little more punch. What do you think? More still? I appreciate the suggestions. As to the flash, I'm a poor judge of distance, but this is about 75% of full width. The BB certainly would have reached him, but don't know whether it would have given more punch or flattened it out more. I still have a lot to learn about use of flash.

[Alan Murphy]

Great wing position. The mud splash adds a lot.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I think it is a lovely shot my only suggestion would be to reduce the crop size a bit and the noise would become less apparent. (Underside of left wing)
Regarding Topaz detail, I think it is handy but I use it very sparingly on the full sized image followed by my usual sharpening routine. Hope this helps.

[Satish Ranadive]

Spectacular take off pose, Bill Sir you have captured here. Beautiful colors, nice details, great HA and composition.
Love the wing position, feather details on head and neck and of course nice trail of mud water from his feet.

Regards,
Satish.

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all for your kind and helpful comments. I continue to learn from them.

[Bob Serling]

Very nice shot - the mud splash really compliments this photo. I would have opened up the crop a bit on the three sides other than the top to get more of a sense of motion, but that's minor compared to the excellent capture.