Juvenile Black-bellied Plover

[Ross Taylor]

I captured this shot in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Huge thanks to Daniel Cadieux for spotting the bird when it was stealth amongst the rocks.

Camera was Canon EOS 7D mkII, Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM. f/5.6, 1/1000s, ISO 250, 312mm.

Shot RAW and Processed in Lightroom. Cropped to about 70% frame width for composition. Applied slight tweaks of tone and presence. Toned down yellow saturation in vegetation. Applied noise reduction to background.

Critiques very much welcomed - Thanks for having a look!

Ross

[Bill Dix]

A lovely look at this juvie, with nice light and pose. Good habitat. Looks like he has his toe snagged on the seaweed.

[Karl Egressy]

It is on the darks side but otherwise very nice image.
Here is a brighter version, you might like it.

[Ross Taylor]

Thanks Bill, yes he did hit a snag. He did not trip though ;) - Ross

[Ross Taylor]

Karl, yes indeed, brighter is better. About a half stop more does it for me. Thanks so much for your help Ross

[gail bisson]

Good POV and IQ.
I like the brighter version that Karl posted.
The kelp is amazingly clean!Nice foot up and the kelp caught on the toe is a nice element.
I would clone out or minimize the white circle below the tail.
Good DOF for 5.6.
In a perfect world the body would have been a bit more parallel to the sensor but still very nice as presented.
looking forward to more,
gail

[Robert Kimbrell]

A pleasing image Ross, My first thought was that it was dark, and that was addressed. The bird is nicely placed in the frame, and I like the foot up. I agree with Gail the kelp is clean and works well here. Hope to see more of your images.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey Ross, awesome seeing you get your feet wet here on BPN, and a sweet subject to show! Getting low certainly paid off in more ways than one, especially in getting what could have been a distracting BG down to a pleasing out of focus BG element. Good call toning down the yellows in the weeds. Karl's repost re: brightness, is spot on. Gail read my thoughts when it comes to the body angle, but certainly not a deal breaker. My favorite part of the image is the foot caught in the vegetation - that is a neat detail.

[David Salem]

Nice shot and welcome to BPN. The pose and details look great and the increased exposure looks much better. You better get a good washing machine if you are going to be hanging around Daniel. Gona get dirty. Have fun

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Ross, a big welcome to BPN, and a great image to start off with, in the avian forum. I like your low angle of capture, and Im fine with the angled pose in this. I like Karl's repost bringing out a touch more 'brightness', and of course, the toenail caught on the weed takes this up another notch.

Looking forward to more.

[Ross Taylor]

Thank you very much everybody for your insights.

Your help has lead me to look at my workflow, and screen setup in Lightroom.

Those who said I can learn a lot here were bang-on!

Ross

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Some excellent comments above for sure.
I love the brighter version and your image is really nicely presented.
Thanks for sharing.
Keep 'em coming!

[Sidharth Kodikal]

A very successful image for all the reasons mentioned above. I won't repeat them, but will throw in my vote for the RP.
Welcome aboard Ross, and looking forward to more.

[Ross Taylor]

Thank you Akos and Sidharth!
Ross