I have never seen black necked stilts on Biscayne Bay until this summer when I found a pair hanging out in the grass flats with the ibises and other usual residents. I tried to get some shots of both feeding, but they were very skittish and would basically freeze up in my presence. At least I got this one on the move.
Sony a700, Minolta 300mm, 1.4XTC
1/640, ISO200, f5.
PP significant crop, some CW rotation, lightened the bg, sharpened bird's head
Connie
It must feel great to find a new species in your area! :) I like the image but I feel the darks in the stilt blend in with the dark BG. Also, I am not certain the reflection adds a lot of strength, thus I'd place the bird away from that centerline. Probably below it. What do you think? It does show nicely its habitat.
Cute little guy. I like the raised leg and the reflection. I wish the head and bill stood out from the BG a bit more. Perhaps it is the vertical reflections causing too much distraction?
Is this a large crop, looks like some image detail might be lost. Image looks a tad flat, could be my MacBook - let's see what others say. I was thinking with 420MM of focal length you need to be within 20 - 25 feet to fill a decent % of your frame even with a crop factor.
Love the unique species and I know you had fun photographing them. Fall colors are fantastic and exposure techs look solid, like the open aperture.
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 09-25-2009 at 09:39 PM.
Hi Connie - love these guys as well - IMHO the best shots of these fellows are the ones were you can see that nice red eye that they have. For my tastes the bird does tend to merge into the BG a little - I would crop some from the bottom losing the reflection (Not that Strong).
Like the inclusion of the habitat elements.
TFS
Thank you all for the feedback, your comments seem to be in line with my thoughts and it's great to have them confirmed at the very least. Jeff, this is a significant crop, at best guess, I would say I lopped off at least 50%. They did not let me get too close. Also, not fall colors, this was shot this summer (south Florida is graced with only 2 seasons, wet and dry :cool:). The reflections are mangrove roots.
Connie