Molting Short-billed Dowitcher

[Dorian Anderson]

This is a fun time of year here on the SF Bay as the shorebirds are changing into their best clothes ahead of migration and the summer nesting season.
This SB Dowitcher is about half molted, the outgoing winter plumage being gray and the incoming breeding molt being brick red.

Head angle isn't perfect, but coupled with the drop of mud I think it gives him/her a very surprised look, as though I interrupted him midway through his meal.
Fun fact: Female dowitchers have longer bills than males.

You can see how far he sinks into the mud, so I really had to earn this shot in there with him. Very, very dirty afterwards!

Canon 500mm f/4 IS v1 + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/1600 at f/5.6, ISO 1000, handheld on stomach
Processed in Lightroom - nothing tricky!

Cheers
Dorian

[Jim Wetherall]

Nice one Dorian. Love that cool blue background! Head angle could be better as you said but it really doesn't bother me, IQ is superb!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dorian, I thought my light was sweet, yours is even sweeter. Getting down and dirty has really paid off here, and love the semi raised leg full of mud. Detail and colours on the Dowitcher look good, and the dirty droplets captured in mid air takes this over the top. Well timed and captured.

[nickolas thurston]

Wow great light! I like the look on the birds face it adds a nice feeling to image. also the muddy bill is nice, it is always nice when you can tell the bird is doing something.

[Isaac Grant]

The bird in the habitat and the light is just beautiful. As you mentioned the head angle is a little too far off I think but not a deal breaker. The problem is that the bird looks a little soft to me, especially the head.

[Dorian Anderson]

The original image represents about ~60% of the full frame. Here is a close-up of the head to show detail. This is 5-7% of the original frame. I can see individual lashes, so I think it looks OK, accounting for the crop of course.
Processing is my admitted weak point, so maybe there's more detail that can be extracted.

[Isaac Grant]

I agree with you that that looks pretty good. Must be something in the processing. If you want, PM and then you can email me the RAW. I can try and see if I can improve it at all. I'm sitting at my computer while there is a house full of woman and children so looking for an excuse to stay away!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Great light as already pointed out, and the muddy legs and bill are a nice touch. As are the falling water drops. Agree about head angle. I could also see a version wit the birds a touch lower in the frame. As for sharpness, I'm wondering if different monitors/resolutions render sharpness differently, as the image looks tack sharp from my end.

[Glenn Pure]

A real beauty Dorian. Great POV, great light, great pose with the lifted leg and the falling drops really add. The pop is great too and like the way the lower half of the frame is brighter than the upper half. I can't see any problems with detail in this one. If mine, the only thing I'd revisit is the highlights on the bird, particularly the underside, which I would reduce just a whisker but I am nit-picking what is a very fine shot.

[Isaac Grant]

As Glenn points out I think the image is too bright, that combined with something in processing is making it look a little soft on the 5k imac. I think that this screen and the quality 4k screens really make a big difference when processing images and for presentation. If it is not razor sharp then it just will not look good. But as the closeup shows, there is detail there that I think could be brought out more.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent depiction of the dowitcher in its habitat. Sweet light. Details look tack sharp on my screen. Would not change anyhting

TFS