Long-billed Curlew #3

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk III, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x II, 1/400, f/5.6, ISO 800
About 90% of Full Frame

Here's one final Curlew image from last month's visit to Morro Strand State Beach in Morro Bay, CA.
Cleaned up a few small specks and blobs on the beach.

Looking forward to your comments and critiques !

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent detail and colors, love the pose, I have one exactly like this but BG is not as smooth as yours. Contrast is a bit high on my screen

[Bruce Enns]

Love the low angle, great details and creamy smooth BG Mike!

Cheers!
Bruce

[Kim Rollins]

Mike -
I love the POV and composition. Bird seems positioned well too and focus is good.

Seems a bit bright to me viewing it here.

When I first looked at it I my first thought was that the bg color was just right but after looking longer I think I would try cooling. I would suggest trying just cooling a very small amount to tone it down a bit as the "red channel" is the hot one. This will change the tone of the bg color just slightly too and may assist with contrast.
Here I am talking something like a Photo Filter Cooling Filter(80) at only 8-10% setting I believe.

[Stu Bowie]

Brilliant feather detail, and love the raised foot off the ground. Great capture Mike.

[Mark Dumbleton]

Stunning! Low angle stuff gives an image so much impact and this is a prime example!
Well done

[Dave Mills]

Hi Mike, Wouldn't touch this! Great as is!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Love it Mike! I like the walking motion, and the good head angle. Sharpness, exposure, and colours look great. Since you already did some cleaning up on the beach I would good ahead and also eliminate the black spot on the sand near left edge.

[Mike Lentz]

Just want to agree with what others have said, a fine image.

[LouBuonomo]

Love the plumage and the raise foot.. I like the foot impression in the sand also

[Ramon M. Casares]

Noce pose, textures, BG, light, colors and comp. Congratulations!