Roosting Sanderling

[SeanKP]

Just to prove that I didn't spend my entire time in France in the garden taking photos of blue tits. I made it to the beach too. Lying on my belly much to the amusement of passing locals. This time on a little spit of sand that was gradually getting smaller as the tide came in. I was so engrossed in the sanderling that I hadn't noticed just how far the tide had come in until I got a little bit wet.

40D + 400mm DO + 1.4TC Hand held. ISO 400, F/5.6 @ 1/1000 sec. Evaluative metering @ -2/3 stop.

C&C encouraged.

Cheers.

Sean

[Gail Spitler]

Sean - From here, this is a beautiful image. Main bird is crisp, like the "stuff" adding interest to the water. Did you use a polarizer? The blue of the sky is great. Not sure what I think about the oof buddies: they do provide context, and perhaps feel a bit like a distraction at the same time.
Lovely lens too
Cheers
Gail

[SeanKP]

Hi Gail. Thanks for the comments. No, no polariser used. I'm with you about the birds in the background. I did spend a lot of time trying to isolate individual birds but due to the lack of space available to me, not wanting to move too much in case I scared them and the sheer number of sanderling, it was tough. I do have one shot that I like of a single bird with no distracting background and I'll post that one tomorrow. I'd love to know how you think it compares.

Cheers.

Sean

[Hazel Grant]

love the depth of field and the eye of the focused one. worth the "wet"

[denise ippolito]

Sean, I love the overall image. I think it is very appealing. Maybe a tad of space on bottom- love the colors-well done!

[SeanKP]

Thanks Hazel and Denise.

Denise, I agree 100% with you about more space at the bottom. Unfortunately the foreground is unattractive, out-of-focus sand and I didn't feel up to adding canvas at the bottom to replace it. I'm making a conscious effort to get lower with some quite pleasing results but unattractive foregrounds is one issue that I am encountering frequently. Does anyone have any suggestions how to overcome this?

Cheers.

Sean

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Sean,
I actually like the composition, your main bird is placed just right in frame, I like the details and color rendition. The tucked in head pose is nice, with the open eye. The out of focus background is kind of pleasing for my taste; it shows habitat. I added more canvas to the bottom and took some off the top. I blurred the background a tad more and tone down the blues and the whites on the bird. And did a pass of noise reduction in the background. and selective sharpened the main character...:D:cool:

[Julie Kenward]

Beautiful image, Sean. Gus's repost makes it even better which I wasn't sure was possible. The lighting is gorgeous and your colors are surreal.

I do find myself wishing those back birds had just a bit more focus to them. I especially want the one on the right of the frame to at least have a hint of a face. Still...excellent work here. I'd be proud to have this in my collection.

[Lance Peters]

Hi sean - very nice - Gus's repost is a improvment o a already very good shot. Well Done - Love those blues.

[Dave Leroy]

Tender shot Sean. Very nice. My preference is for Gus's repost, a little lighter and a tad more room. Well worth getting out of the garden.
Dave

[Nonda Surratt]

Sean,

Really lovely image, the main bird really pops!!! Gus re-post took it over the top.

[Alfred Forns]

I love the bird in the bg You have one prominent well placed and all else is complementing !!! Like it a lot The one part I'm not sure is the blue color water/bg?