Ruddy Turnstone

[Helen Hauver]

This was taken some time ago while we were travelling and I can't remember exactly where, but anyway, here it is for some critique.

[Paul Davey]

I like the pose and foreground, typical of this active species. I think the light overexposes the plumage. It would have been better taken around the two extremes of the day, I think. The light is warmer then and would have saturated the different colours better. Aside from that the bird looks slightly out of focus and appears to have been taken with a slow shutter speed since it is presumably in movement. The tail is slightly cut off, another disappointing factor, but for the rest of the composition you have done well up to an extent.

Paul

[Maxis Gamez]

Hi Helen,

Your image looks out of focus in my monitor. If this is a crop, I would leave room to the right of the frame not cutting the tail.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Helen, Paul and Maxis have noted some important items. I do like the inclusion of the grasses. The biggest problem is that the image is not at all sharp. Were you working on a tripod? How did you attempt to focus?

If I had to guess, I would think that this image was made on the causeway at Merrit Island.

later and love, artie

[Robert Smith]

All the nits noted. The first thing that jumped out at me was the softness of the head/neck. The second thing was the clipped tail. Only then did I note what a neat habitat the bird was in. Yep, a tripod with a good focus around the eye (while including all the bird) would make this a killer image (along with perhaps a little lower point of view).

[Helen Hauver]

Thanks for all the input - You may be right Artie about Merritt Island - we were there - most likely I was not using a tripod since it took me forever to accept the fact that I cannot support the camera as I thought I could. The image is also cropped and I didn't pay enough attention to cropping with all the bird inside the crop. Robert - I don't quite understand softness of the head and neck. The beak and eye look pretty sharp to me. Could you elaborate. Thank you all for the input. This web page is fantastic.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Helen, Thanks for your kind words. Yes, using a tripod is imperative especially when you are learning. As for the sharpness issues, if you look at the grasses they are much sharper than the eyeand the feathers on the head. As the grass is sharp, it shows that the error was in focusing accuracy and not it movement of the subject or the equipment... If you use One-Shot AF when hand-holding your body will move and throw off the focus...

later and love, artie