Three Banded Plover

[Stu Bowie]

This Plover was walking along the edge of a dam in the Kruger National Park. I was hoping he would walk right next to the water, but he didnt. A lower angle wasnt possible, as I was shooting from a car.

Canon 50D
100-400 L IS USM @400mm
1/1600
F/6.3
ISO 400

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held from a car.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the walking pose and eye in this one and find the green spot underneath the tail a bit distracting. I might tone down the whites a bit more.

[Chris Kotze]

The bird stand out well against the BG. Sharp and super colours. Maybe remove the green grass at the tail area

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks guys.

Axel, I would be interested to find out from you, how much do you find the whites over exposed. I have just had my screen recalibrated recently, and checked on the whites again. I admit there is a small hot area on the lower part of the thick white band. Would be interested what you pick up on your screen. Cheers, Stuart.

[Tony Whitehead]

Nice striding pose and I like the algae on the legs. Agree that the whites look a bit hot and think this is a good image for Artie's linear burn on the whites. If you open the original and repost as layers and flick between the 2 you can see the difference

[Juan Aragonés]

I checked the image in PS (see treshold in PS and move the slider to the right/left to see how many pixels you have at each level) and you have just a few hot pixels (in the 255 level) but I agree with Axel that the whites seems a bit bright (not hot or burned because the amount of pixel in the level 255 is almost unnoticeable). In a web presentation, our eues can hardly ditingish between the level 255 (hot) and the level 240 (bright) so I agree about toning down a bit the whites just for web presentation.
Regarding the image, the light is a bit harsh but I love the raised leg, the fantastic eye and the low angle ;-)

[Morkel Erasmus]

that's a pretty low angle for an in-car shot in Kruger. where you touring with a Z4?? ;)
all has been said - I find it a very pleasing image with great detail and composition. it would benefit from removing the green patch and toning down the whites as mentioned.

[Dave Phillips]

nice image of a new one for me Stuart.....the distance to subject always helps
when shooting from a vehicle. Further away t6ehnds to flatten the angle a bit and I find this quite acceptable.
Like Tony's repost and the whites are very marginally up, exposure and pp both quite good IMO.
Might sharpen that raised foot just a wee bit more as that is a nice element in the image

[James Salywoda]

Sweet Shot Stuart! this is such a beautiful bird details look excellent and I like the stepping pose.

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the feedback.

Tony, Juan, thanks for showing me the ropes. Much appreciated

[Juan Aragonés]

Stuart, thanks to you for taking into consideration my comments. i am happy to hear that it was helpfull :):)

[Mark Dumbleton]

Like the angle, and pose of the bird! Agree Linear burn on the highlights would work well here.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Lovely low angle Stuart and what a little ripper of a bird. Never seen anything like it. Is this much of a crop? If yes, there is still surprising detail in the plumage. :) Thanks for sharing mate.