Listen Up! I am still famished!

[Marina Scarr]

Canon 40D, Canon 400 DO & 1.4 TC @ 560mm
F7.1, 1/800sec, ISO 400, manual mode
Gitzo tripod

C & C always welcomed and appreciated,

Marina

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Sweet moment with a magic/warm light!!!

[Arthur Morris]

Very sharp and a good EXP. Pointing the camera to the left would have improved the COMP as there is too much dead space on the left. In a perfect world the chick's head would have been angled towards you. All in all well done.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Pointing the camera to the left would have improved the COMP as there is too much dead space on the left.

I'm not sure I understand this. I agree that there is too much space on the left but pointing the camera even further to the left would result in more dead space, no?

Marina, I like the mood and angle and wish for a bit wider DOF. Alternatively, I might sharpen the head of the chick a bit more.

[Alfred Forns]

.. I'm sure Arite meant the other left :)

HI Marina One of the best skimmer with chick I've seen in a long time !!! Agree on the slightly different framing !!! Big Congrats !!

[Arthur Morris]

I'm not sure I understand this. I agree that there is too much space on the left but pointing the camera even further to the left would result in more dead space, no?

Marina, I like the mood and angle and wish for a bit wider DOF. Alternatively, I might sharpen the head of the chick a bit more.

Sorry. Brain typo. To the right. Too many posts :) :) :)

[Mike Milicia]

Wonderful moment well captured!
Great job on exposure and details.

Agree with framing comments above.
Great head angle on adult.
Agree if chick's head were angled toward you, it would be an improvement with
respect to the chick, but I think you would lose the connection between the chick and
the adult. So, in this case, I think it works well either way.

[Danny Laredo]

Indeed a wonderful moment and I really love the detail.

[Arthur Morris]

Agree if chick's head were angled toward you, it would be an improvement with
respect to the chick, but I think you would lose the connection between the chick and
the adult. So, in this case, I think it works well either way.

I disagree; if you look carefully, the chin of the adult bird is on this (our) side of the chick. (The chick's forehead is hidden behind the chin/upper neck of the adult). Therefore, there was plenty of leeway for the chick to turn its head towards us while still looking up at the parent bird. As is, the chick actually looking past the adult. An even bigger benefit would be that the eye of the chick and the eye of the adult would be on pretty close to the same plane thus negating the need to sharpen the chick's head.

It is a fine point but valid none-the-less :) :D :)

[Arthur Morris]

ps to Marina: Was this in Sarasota or in Marco Island or ???

[Mike Lentz]

Perspective, light and behavior all make this a nice image. I think I agree with Mr. Milicia on the action/angle you have... its all personal preference I guess. Your DOF choice was good, but maybe selectively darkening the chicks eye would make it appear a bit sharper.

[Fabs Forns]

Agree than more DOF would have helped here, since the BG is just sand and not distracting. Cropping from top and left would eliminate the excessive negative space.Food job of showing the eye on the parent's black head, often a problem in Skimmers.
Thanks for sharing it, Marina.

[Arthur Morris]

I think I agree with Mr. Milicia on the action/angle you have... its all personal preference I guess.

Hi Mike, Lots of stuff is personal preference of course but if you read my post above in pane #9 you would see that in this case it is a matter of fact (not of personal preference) that a head turn toward us by the chick would have clearly been an improvement.

[Arthur Morris]

Cropping from top and left would eliminate the excessive negative space.

Yes Fabs, cropping from the left would have eliminated the excessive negative space but pointing the camera to the right would have allowed for the inclusion of the chick's whole body and allowed her to cut the parent's body in a much more pleasing spot. As presented it is awkward.

[Fabs Forns]

Yes Fabs, cropping from the left would have eliminated the excessive negative space but pointing the camera to the right would have allowed for the inclusion of the chick's whole body and allowed her to cut the parent's body in a much more pleasing spot. As presented it is awkward.

Maestro, I'm all for giving advise for a better in-camera capture. But since that point has been already discussed extensively, I added what could help now :)

[Mike Milicia]

Therefore, there was plenty of leeway for the chick to turn its head towards us while still looking up at the parent bird.

Yes, I agree if chick's head could be angled more toward the viewer without losing the connection with the parent, that would be ideal.
When you said "angled towards you", I (apparently mistakenly) thought you were suggesting that the chick's head angle should mimic
the parent's which I believe would have have eliminated the connection with the parent.

[Arthur Morris]

Mike, you got me there. I should have written " bit more towards you." I would not want the chick looking at us, just would liked to have had its head perfectly parallel to the imaging sensor in which case it would have been looking directly at the bottom of the adult's bill.

Fabs, And that is a good thing. :) :)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I like the comp as is and found the discussion it generated very informative. Thanks Artie, Fabs and Mike. That's why BPN is a great place for learning. As even the Maestro can learn (how to think straight) :D :p

Good job Marina. I think despite the few subtle technical improvements suggested by the above kind folks, your image still portrays the wonderful intimacy shared between parent and chick. You, I am sure, have ample opportunities to go and refine the techniques discussed and I (for one) cannot wait to see more of your wonderful images. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Jasper Doest]

Nice...you took a risk and I really appreciate that....nice! However, I fully agree with Artie that there is too much dead space on the left side...but place your article text there and you have yourself a magazine spread ;-)

[Kiran Poonacha]

All been said, I will say I love the image...