Youngster Red Knot

[Ilija Dukovski]

Juv. Red Knot.

I had huge problems today with direct sunlight from the direction of the ocean.
Had to take photos from the water. I used fill-flash most of the time to even out the shadows.
I don't understand why the leftmost toe is blurred, it is that way in the raw image.
Even if it moved should not be this blurred. :confused:

Nikon D80 Nikkor 300mm +TC1.4 f/5.6 1/2000 Matrix AP as metered ISO400 Fill flash

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Fill flash was the way to go, the exposure looks good. I also like the angle, eye contact, setting and sharpness. I might remove the sheen on the bill and the blurred toe seems to be due to a relatively shallow DOF. I might go for a slightly wider crop.

[Arthur Morris]

Killer fresh juvenile. Best thing about it? Those yellow feet up on the little ridge of sand. The worst? The bird's posture seems to be awkward with the head and neck slightly twisted away from you.... Or am I nuts?

SH and EPX perfect.

[Aidan Briggs]

Ditto Artie, I would also like to see a bit more space all around.

[Ed Cordes]

Great sharpness. Your flash technique is excellent.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I also find the image a little tight for my taste, but love the species.

[Stu Bowie]

Great flashwork, which in turn has brought out the detail nicely. I would only add a bit to the bottom and right.

[arash_hazeghi]

This is an excellent shot. HA and eye contact work for me. detail and exposure is perfect too. As for OOF toe it is due to depth of field, stop down to f/8 to get everything in sharp focus, but I like it a lot as presented.

[Arthur Morris]

After a second look here I finally figured out what was bugging me. When a bird is angled towards us--as it is here--it is best to have the bird's head on straight, that is, have the bird looking in the same direction as it's body is pointing. In other words, the head should be parallel to the body. In this image, though the bird's head is perfectly square to the back of the camera, the bird is actually looking to it's left. Thus, an improper HA.... If you have something similar with the bird's head on straight, please do post it here.

[Ilija Dukovski]

After a second look here I finally figured out what was bugging me. When a bird is angled towards us--as it is here--it is best to have the bird's head on straight, that is, have the bird looking in the same direction as it's body is pointing. In other words, the head should be parallel to the body. In this image, though the bird's head is perfectly square to the back of the camera, the bird is actually looking to it's left. Thus, an improper HA.... If you have something similar with the bird's head on straight, please do post it here.

Got it! Although for a moment there, I thought we finally have proof that you are nuts:D:):):)
Just kidding. On a serious note, the problem here was that if I had perfect HA I would have lost
the catchlight, I was shooting only when I saw the catchlight. Lesson for future: get the HA perfect
with eye contact and then do the catch-light in PS.

In this pose I have two of them and both have same HA:( I will post few more with better HA
but that require more work with sand cleaning and no both feet visible, unfortunately.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Thank you everyone for the comments. Considering the tight frame, this is almost full frame so I needed to add
canvas top and right. Will do in my next post.

Thanks again...

[Ilija Dukovski]

This is an excellent shot. HA and eye contact work for me. detail and exposure is perfect too. As for OOF toe it is due to depth of field, stop down to f/8 to get everything in sharp focus, but I like it a lot as presented.

Arash, you are right, I had plenty of light to stop down here, usually I have enough DOF at f/5.6 with shorebirds, but this one was way too close. Thank you for the comment.

[Arthur Morris]

Me nuts? You gotta be kidding. I am a bit insane, but nuts?

In my 26 years and 1 month of bird photography can you guess how many times I have looked for a catch light while looking through the viewfinder?

[Daniel Cadieux]

In my 26 years and 1 month of bird photography can you guess how many times I have looked for a catch light while looking through the viewfinder?

Artie, I'm gonna guess zero...mainly because that is how many times I've looked for a catchlight through the viewfinder myself! (Although I'm only at a little over 4 years of bird photography) :-)

Ilija, although a different head angle may make you lose an actual pin-point catchlight you will almost always have some sort of lighter reflection within the eye that looks great when enhanced later on.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Me nuts? You gotta be kidding. I am a bit insane, but nuts?

Well, you said that first, not me:):):)

In my 26 years and 1 month of bird photography can you guess how many times I have looked for a catch light while looking through the viewfinder?

Daniel says zero! Is that true, hm, I'm looking for eye contact, and the catch-light gave me the feel of eye contact.
Really, never look for catch-light?

[Arthur Morris]

Zero would be the correct answer. Way to go Dan. I just look at the head angle and the way that the light strikes the bird's face. When it looks sweet (or just before), I press the button. That's all she wrote!

[Ilija Dukovski]

Very well, good to know, I certainly was not aware of that.
Never stop learning...

Thanks Artie, appreciated!

[Arthur Morris]

YAW. It would be interesting to do a poll on that. Now all that I have to do is learn to make a poll.... Not sure which Forum... Possibly a Sticky here.

[Ilija Dukovski]

YAW. It would be interesting to do a poll on that. Now all that I have to do is learn to make a poll.... Not sure which Forum... Possibly a Sticky here.

Poll sound like good idea, James has one in General. We can get the "wisdom of the crowds".
I'd say make it here since this forum is most visited and once you get good number of responses
move it to Educational.