Bathing Least Sandpiper

[Isaac Grant]

This juvenile Least Sandpiper was photographed last September at Miller Field in Staten Island, New York. I was watching it for a while and just as the sun was setting it decided to take a bath in the last light of the day.

Canon 1dx and Canon 500 f4 ii + 1.4x iii. F5.6, ISO 1600, SS 1/1600.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Isaac, when we have sweet soft light, morning or afternoon, it raises the bar on image quality. I like the low perspective, casual pose with a ever so slight head turn, and I like the colours and feather detail on this youngster. Your upper BG certainly adds a lot to the overall image. An opportunity well used.

[annmpacheco]

Sweet light, sweet image, IQ is tops, the BG is lovely and sharp details until the water line. The water drops and HA are very nice , overall id say you nailed it!

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful light. Nice Head Angle and sharp eye. Nice Positioning of the birds as well

Thanks for sharing.

[gail bisson]

This is excellent Isaac!
The light and POV and BG colors are wonderful.
perfect HA.
Wish this was mine and no nits at all from me!
gail

[Glenn Pure]

Excellent low POV, Isaac and superb light - I just love getting out at that time of day. The water, background and composition all work very well together. Lovely colour and tonal range on the bird. The IQ is very good but the sharpness seems to be dropping off a little on the front of the bird's wing so a touch more DOF would have raised this a notch or two for me.

[Arthur Morris]

Sweet, sweet, sweet (as noted above). With the bird angled slightly away from you the look bad head turn was critical. Good job!

with love, artie

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hey Isaac, beautiful bird, wonderful composition, lovely light. I love the low POV. I hesitate to comment on this because no one else has done so, on my display I see a halo around the upper birds head. I wonder if you did any work there or if it is just natural from the light. Thank you for sharing.

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Isaac, beautiful bird, wonderful composition, lovely light. I love the low POV. I hesitate to comment on this because no one else has done so, on my display I see a halo around the upper birds head. I wonder if you did any work there or if it is just natural from the light. Thank you for sharing.

Good catch Joe. Can't believe that I missed such a big halo. I never see the small ones ...

with love, artie

[Isaac Grant]

I didn't do any work to the head or anywhere else on this shot. I think it's just light reflecting off of wet feathers.

[Arthur Morris]

I didn't do any work to the head or anywhere else on this shot. I think it's just light reflecting off of wet feathers.

Hey Isaac, I am from Missouri. I have never seen anything like that in 35 years. Please send me the RAW file via a large file server.

thanks with love, artie

[Isaac Grant]

I was out late and in the field photographing baby Great Horned Owl when I responded yesterday. Not sure what you are seeing guys but I do not see a halo on the 5k imac at all but I am sure you do. Guess I was just assuming you were looking at wet feathers or something. The head was selected meticulously like it always is, nothing burned or cloned near the top of the head. Applied NR on a separate layer to the background and sharpened the bird only. Maybe chalk it up to different monitors. Not sure. Heading back out now to try and finally see if I can get a proper photo of a Short-eared Owl before they leave...

[Arthur Morris]

I was out late and in the field photographing baby Great Horned Owl when I responded yesterday. Not sure what you are seeing guys but I do not see a halo on the 5k imac at all but I am sure you do. Guess I was just assuming you were looking at wet feathers or something. The head was selected meticulously like it always is, nothing burned or cloned near the top of the head. Applied NR on a separate layer to the background and sharpened the bird only. Maybe chalk it up to different monitors. Not sure. Heading back out now to try and finally see if I can get a proper photo of a Short-eared Owl before they leave...

What I am seeing on my 15" Macbook Pro w/retina display is about a light, 1/4 inch halo around the bird's head from the rear crown to the top of the bill. I would still love to see the RAW file just for the halibut. Why? I've never seen anything like this.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

ps: good luck with the short-eareds.

with love, artie

[David Salem]

I do see a very faint light Halo around the top of the birds head but its fairly minimal and looks totally natural. Sometimes depending on how the light is reflecting off of the bird or the water, these types of halos sometimes appear. Not operator error just part of the way the camera sees the light.
The rest of the frame looks awesome with great details, exposure and colors throughout. Well done

[Isaac Grant]

You guys had me running around on this one. I checked my wifes computer and saw a tiny thing that looks more like the lighter water just behind the head. On my computer I still do not see it at the distance that I normally sit at. But if I go back about 4 feet then it looks like I can see it. Very strange really. Thanks for pointing it out. Always good to know what others do or don't see. Dave I wonder if he we see is different as you keep your computer on the default but I keep mine on the more space setting, meaning it is not upscaling the pics or text.