Don't bring yourself down Bill. Theres a lot to like here. The pose along with the HA are nice. I think you made good controls of the blacks and whites. I have photographed these birds often and they are pretty flirty, what was your shutter speed. A pleasing image, and I am sure some of the guys on here will give you more tips that I can, to make it better
Bill .. a great image of a-not-so-easy-as-it-looks bird to photograph. I was in the UK a couple of weeks ago (10 days) and although I saw many I was unable to get a printable shot. Nice balance and very nice location - my only criticism (a minor one) is the lack of life in the eye ( I see a catchlight, but it still looks . If it was me I think might have done a bit of photoshop'ing in that area.
Nice work
Bill
In my experience, you need to be very choosy when you shoot black and white birds Bill. Overcast days are great with their lower contrast light, early and late in the day are obviously good, but usually you will struggle in the bright middle of the day.
I'd suggest you push the exposure as far to the right as you can without blowing the whites, take some test exposures and check the histogram.
In your shot here, the light is not optimal - look at the contrast between the white forehead and white belly - far too much for the sensor to handle. You could also do with thinking about the composition and how you use the negative space - wagtails are an awkward shape and in your shot i personally find the foreground pebbles more interesting than the water, so maybe putting the waggie higher in the frame would be better.
The specular highlights bottom left may need some attention, but all said the bird is giving a nice pose and despite my criticism it's not a terrible shot - a bit of thought and the same bird in the same location could produce a nice result.
Great suggestions regarding exposure by Mike above. Take note Bill!
I like the image. As mentioned it is well exposed with a good HA. Maybe crop some more from above to the start of the dark diagonal shade area from the top right. Don't be shy mate, keep at it. You're using a converter too with the 600, so you'll get more magnification. Keep up the shutter speed, get some solid long lens technique happening and you are definitely heading along the right path.
The repost looks better to me Bill, recon you have done very well with what can be ac difficult subject, agree with Will we all would like to improve I'm sure you will soon be happy with your work.
Pied Wagtail
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