Snowy Plover chick and Mom. Happy Mother's Day to all the BPN mom's out there!

[gail bisson]

Taken In Sanibel, Florida last week.
Spent many hours with this family and took 100's of frames. Probably got about 20 that I am happy with.
It is so hard to get a catchlight in the chick's eye and to get mom and chick in the same DOF to get them both sharp.
So this one is a keeper for me.
I had to clone out the leg bands x 3 on Mom's leg. Why can't scientists just put one leg band on a bird and share the data and info amongst themselves? Seems ridiculous to me that this little bird was captured 4 times.She actually has 4 bands but the one above the knee on the far leg is not visible in this image.(End of rant!)
Canon 1DX
100-400mm II and 1.4X tele at 540mm
F 8.0 SS 1/1000 ISO 1000
PP Small crop so 80% FF, usual LR sliders of clarity and saturation, cloned out the leg bands, levels,increased the sats of the blues to +17, USM to Mom but not to chick to keep the soft and fuzzy look.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Ed Kelly]

Great POV, nice moment. First thought it was too bright,but my eyes adjusted and it looks very nice. The grayish circle on left behind the chick, could be removed.

Ed

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

You have captured the interaction very well. Great shooting angle, good head angles and lovely background.

My first thought on opening it was how bright the image is. I suspect the numbers are fine, but I would consider trying a version with the brights toned down just a bit.

I have applied a modest multiply blend layer on the repost.

Your call of course, and I know that it can be blazingly bright on the beach.

Cheers

Randy

PS: Ed and I must have been typing at the same time.

[christopher galeski]

loverly capture Gail,nice POV,good detail,like both posts.TFS.

[keith mitchell]

Gail your OP does it for me, agree with other comment it did look a bit bright but the more I look the more I like ,beautiful image.

Keith.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

THe bright tones were very painful at first. I do like Randy's repost.
The image captures a wonderful moment in time. Congratulations!

[John Robinson]

Hi Gail
The OP did look a bit bright on my gear to be honest. I know the whole thing is a bright situation It makes a difference here if I am viewingwith daylight or in the evening too !!
John

[Shawn Zierman]

Impressive. There are several elements balanced very well in the image...head angles, body angles, low angle work, dof, exposure, and so on. You handled everything well. I'm fine with either version. The brightness of the OP looked fine to me and what I would expect given the location and reflective abilities of that bright sand....

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the interaction, setting, composition, IQ and Randy's repost is easier on my eyes. Beautiful image Gail!

[Russ Norwood]

Agree that the repost is an improvement, and that the subject is appealing and well-captured. With or without the brightness adjustments, the adult's breast feathers have a flat, gray look that makes me wonder whether you might have lightened them a bit too much in an attempt to control contrast. I wish more detail were visible in the rest of the plumage, too.

Of course hindsight is always perfect and always favors the critic, but a glance at your camera settings makes me think that you may have had enough light to get this shot at F11 or F16, either one of which might have added some nice detail to both birds. Still, it's an adorable shot. My compliments on your patience and the work it took to create the image.

Russ Norwood

[Bill Dix]

A sweet Mother's Day capture, either way. Wonderful interaction that must have been fun to witness. I've seen how bright that Sanibel beach can be (and wish I were there now); but I agree that the repost is a little easier on the eyes. Or repost with a slight contrast reduction? In either case, nicely seen and captured.

[gail bisson]

Thank you all for your help and responses.
Now that i see Randy's repost I can see the brightness issue. This picture was taken around 5:00PM but the sun can still be very bright but I suspect most of the brightness comes from the reflected light off the sand.
Russ- I would have loved to be at F11 but these plovers never, ever, stop moving. This is actually taken as the chick is running to Mom to be brooded under her wing. A SS of less than 1/1000 would only give me a blurred image. It may look like the chick was stopped in front of mom but in reality he was about to duck under her wing!
Will rework the image with all your help,
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Great family portrait, Gail. Randy addressed the brightness issue which was a slight problem with the original.

[Charlene Bacchioni]

Great interaction image and good detail Gail.

[David Salem]

I also like the re-post better as the OP was a bit bright on my monitor to. Must be the sand reflecting that really makes for the brightness and the overall white look to it. It has a very heavenly dreamy look to it and I like the nice details and the interaction between the two. Overall a very nice Image Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, lovely low angle, and I like how parent and chick are facing each other. Good feather detail and fuzz ball showing up, and I really like that BG behind the birds. I feel Randy's repost has improved the 'exposure' .

[Marina Scarr]

Another vote for the RP but a super image and love seeing both in the same frame! Glad you were given this amazing opportunity, Gail. You surely made the most of it.

[Troy Lim]

Love the Repost. Love the light coming from an angle, giving it more depth. Super cute!

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent image Gail, love the interaction, sharp. I agree the original is too bright, need to tone down the highlights a bit