Snipe.

[keith mitchell]

Nikon D4
Nikon 300ml 2.8
1/320@f7.1
iso 500.


Thanks for taking a look.

[Shawn Zierman]

Wow this is a fantastic image of this species. The perch is a work of art. So glad that at least the one foot is visible at it summits the top of the perch with confidence. A fine click sir...a very fine click. The background almost seems to suggest movement....were there winds blowing the grasses about or is it just flow/posterization kind of things....whatever...sweet frame! For whatever reason I think this fine image has black and white potential as well...I processed it subtley and really enjoy the results....almost other wordly feel to it.

[Jonathan Ashton]

What a terrific shot of a snipe! How did you get that close - was it from your car? Love the pose and perch, the pose couldn't be much better either.
The background seems to have a sine wave pattern there, not too sure what's going on - was it a 16bit file to start with or maybe the compression has gone awry?

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, HA and the perch is a real beauty. The OOF part of the perch balances out the frame nicely. BG wave already mentioned. Excellent image Keith!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Keith, good HA, and I like the comp with the placement of the Snipe. Nice and sharp, and I see the artifacts in the BG, just above the Snipe's head.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Nice one Keith, lovely image. I am in awe how you find Snipe out in the open, the ones here are very secluded and secretive. If mine I would crop up from the bottom removing the out of focus rock, and see how it looks. Thank you for sharing.

[William Dickson]

A cracker Keith. Fantastic capture, you couldn't have hoped for a better perch. Good work

Will

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Keith,

Truly wonderful sighting and you have done so well capturing this snipe atop its lichen adorned perch!

Beautiful colours and I love the greens on the perch and in the BG, a tiny bit of posterisation visible in the BG but not a deal breaker. What I would love to try if this lovely image was mine, is to crop the OOF bit of the perch at the bottom - WDYT?

You got away with this at 1/320s, steady hand and VR on, or firm support? Wondering why you did not up the ISO if you had a chance, just to be on the safe side. Subject indeed very sharp and nice detail, very nice work in the field as well as PP work, my friend

Err...Nikon 300 ml - can you drink it, Keith? Just kidding, I could not help it, we've known each other for some time now on BPN, I thought you won't mind...

Hope you have a super evening,

Warmest regards,

[keith mitchell]

Thanks to you all will try to answer some of the points raised and it's interesting to read different points of view, use a bit of scrim netting in the window of my car and do believe that how you approach them makes all the difference found this by missing one on a post and driving past which did not bother the bird at all even allowing me to turn the car around for another try, on the point of the BG which consists of Buttercup filled meadows, moorland and stone walls so not sure about the problem with this, did a bit of NR but that's all, Joe mine are like yours some of the time but do find early morning and evening the best especially after rain and give the bird time to settle and preen ect,Gabriela do wind up the ISO more with my recent shots, love this(Err...Nikon 300 ml - can you drink it, Keith? Just kidding, I could not help it, we've known each other for some time now on BPN, I thought you won't mind...)
Keith.

[adrian dancy]

What a fabulous capture Keith!

You should go back and buy the snipe a drink....300ml of the best

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I agree with Gabriela about removing the OOF part of the rock. In that case, trim some off the right too I think to balance it better.

This reminds me of some of Alan Murphy's quails on perches type shots. Just superb mate! Superb!

[Mike Poole]

That really is an excellent shot Keith, lovely perch, angle, head angle, BG - I like everything about it

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely as described above. A crop from the bottom solves the o-o-f rock problem. a

[Arthur Morris]

ps: the head turn towards us is a bit too much for perfect. Rest of the image is great.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent image, Keith. The repost solved the perch problem and it looks better.

[christopher galeski]

very nice Keith,love the perch and pose,see the wave in BG,nice detail,I agree with cropping out of focus perch.well done.

[keith mitchell]

Thanks a lot Arthur must agree your cropped version does improve the image never am totally confident with my cropping,HA afraid did not get a lot of time with this one a couple of quick shots then it was off. Thanks Karl and Chris,Akos,Mike,adrian much appreciated.

Keith.

[stuart wanuck]

Yes nice image like repost

[Steve Kaluski]

A real belter Keith.

TFS
Steve