White-rumped Sandpipers

[Ross Taylor]

This photo was taken at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

My Canon EOS 7D mkII, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, and 1.4x III teleconverter were mounted on a small beanbag on the ground. Settings were f/8, 1/1000s, ISO 640, 560mm. Shot RAW and processed in Lightroom.

Cropped to 95% frame width for composition. Darkened the log in the background. Applied NR to background and foreground. Removed 2nd catchlights from the eyes.

Critiques very much appreciated - Thanks for having a look :)

Ross

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the interaction, sharpness, details and exposure. The FG colors are sweet but I would crop out almost half of it to create a more pano crop but that is my personal preference. Excellent image Ross!

[Mike Poole]

That's a real beauty - I'm guessing by your avatar you're a low POV lover, and this suits perfectly. Great interaction between the pair, don't think I'd change anything.

[Marina Scarr]

This is such a special image. Great low angle. Love the color palette and the symmetry. Even though there are some pretty hard lines in the BG, this image still came together quite nicely.

[William Dickson]

Beautiful frame Ross, I wouldnt change anything. The POV, pose, absolutely lovely. Great detail and I love the bills touching. Thanks for sharing

Will

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Ross, love the two opposite similar poses, with their beaks touching each other, and what a great eye level perspective. As they are both parallel to you, you have good DOF on both, and they are both nice and sharp. I do like the smooth water of the FG, and Ive done a few 'page scrolls' and feel taking off the top, inline with the top of the brown BG will work too.

[Ross Taylor]

Thank you all for your kind words and suggestions :)

Very much appreciated!

Ross

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very nice Ross! I like the face-to-face poses here, and the sweet warm light. The vertical lines of the reflections are quite appealing and I would leave them in - although a pano version as suggested would work too. If anything I would soften the hard line cutting across the top of the sandpipers. Perhaps a soft low-opacity clone tool would work for that.

After a couple of weeks' lull the shorebirds were really rocking this week locally eh!!

[Ross Taylor]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks so much for your tip of how to deal with that hard line. Much appreciated :)

YES! this has been an encouraging week for shorebirds locally :) So happy to have gotten out a few times and get some nice shots :)

Cheers,
Ross

[Ross Taylor]

Here is a repost, with the edge of the log in the background softened up.

I used the brush tool in LR with lowered sharpening and clarity. I then cloned over that with a low opacity selection from the log.

A little better?

Thanks for pointing out this possibility Daniel :)

Ross

[Marina Scarr]

Yes, the RP is an improvement but, frankly, the subjects are so strong that that distraction wasn't too obvious too me on first look.