Spotted Sandpiper

[Desmond Chan]

D300 200-400 f4 VR handheld @380mm. Manual exposure mode, all natural light. ISO 640 f4.5 1/1250s.

Nearly full-frame.

C&C welcome and appreciated !!

Thanks for looking !

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good relaxed pose on top of a nice perch (which I would maybe burn a bit). The habitat BG looks good, but desaturating the yellow channel on it would make it less intrusive. You could also selectively warm up the bird and perch. Good comp and exposure.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Great work Desmond,

I really like the bird and the composition,
BG has nice array of color too.
Good whites exposure.
Congrats!

[Dave Leroy]

Nicely done Desmond. You must have been nice and close to get almost ff. I might remove one of the catch lights. Well done. Dave

[Stu Bowie]

He's posing as if he's king of the perch. Sharp, well exposed, and just enough OOF BG to add to the image.

[David Fletcher]

Like the way it pops from the bg. Pose and comp good. Like the suggestion to tone down the bg yellow channel. there is enough detail to retain interest, but the brightness competes for attention.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the angle, eye contact and particularly the BG. I would have stopped down more for wider DOF and agree regarding removing one of the catchlights.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I am with Daniel about toning down the perch a little. The bird is gorgeous as is the BG. Congrats.

[Desmond Chan]

Thanks fellows for the comments and suggestions !

Yes, Dave, this sandpiper was close. I suspect I was near its nest since it was the sandpiper that initiated the contact, so to speak. All the time it stayed close and kept calling. So I just sat down and took shots, didn't even bother to chase it around :). But, man, this little fellow certainly is loud!

[Jay Gould]

Des, it tops! The only thing I would address is the light vertical line on the RHS. Personally if it can't be otherwise removed I would have no problem cropping just inside the line. In this case an almost square presentation does not bother me is the slightest. Here's my suggestion. The lovely Sandpiper says it all!