Semipalmated Plover #2

[Aidan Briggs]

One from last weekend at Morro Bay. The sand was in little piles with lots of seaweed, and it was hard to get a clear angle, but I managed to get a few that I liked.

50D, 100-400 at 400
1/800, f/5.6, ISO 400
HH, small crop

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the angle, mood, sharpness and eye contact. There are some artifacts in the BG.

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks for the comment Axel, that is from the JPEG compression.

[Arthur Morris]

I like the reddish tinted areas in the sand. Like the low perspective and the basic COMP. I wish only that the bird's head were more parallel to the back of the camera.... Good to see an adult after so many juvies.

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks Artie. I couldn't move to my right as there was a big pile of sand there that would have obscured the legs .

[Sid Garige]

Very nice job Aidan. Great exposure and details.

[Grace Scalzo]

A peaceful image and I like the one legged stance. Did you do a linear burn on the breast? There's something a bit off there, lacks the details of the rest of your bird and there's a purplish tint right there. Let us (me) know, I'm curious...

[Harshad Barve]

Nice expos , pose , details & BG
TFS

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks all for the comments. Grace, I see what you are talking about, but what is odd is that it I don't remember doing any specific adjustments to that area. I looked at the TIFF and it showed there too, though much more faintly. I'm going to see if it is in the RAW next.

[Aidan Briggs]

OK Grace, here is the weird thing, it is in the RAW too, so it wasn't from processing. I have no idea why it is there. Do note that it is very faint in the RAW.

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Love it - low angle, composition, exposure. Only thing this could have been improved IMO is showing the feet.

Congrats, JR

[Kiran Poonacha]

That eye contact with that pose put this over the top, congrats..

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks for looking into that, Aidan. I sometimes see similar effects out of my 50D as well, less so after I updated it to the latest firmware, but I can't explain it either.

[Stu Bowie]

Super pose Aidan, head tucked in neatly. Well exposed, and showing good feather detail. I like the layered colours in the BG too.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Beautiful pose Aidan. Love everything about it. I feel the bottom is just a little tight, what are your thoughts?

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks everyone for the comments.

Akos, I guess I could add a little to the bottom, although I am fine with the comp as it is. Just my opinion.

[Dave Phillips]

OK Grace, here is the weird thing, it is in the RAW too, so it wasn't from processing. I have no idea why it is there. Do note that it is very faint in the RAW.

if it's in the RAW, what is so strange/weird?
It's just a little area of overexposure......an advantage of RAW is the ease
to process it out before final conversion. IMO, this is "one" of the reasons
we use RAW.....so as not to be stuck with this kind of hot spot
Nothing "weird" !!.....very nice image

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks Dave, I thought it was weird because I had assumed it was there from a PP mistake. I went back and lightened up the area a bit, and it is a lot better now. This spot is in all the images of this bird that I made, so I now think it has something to do with the condition of the birds feathers.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Artie. I couldn't move to my right as there was a big pile of sand there that would have obscured the legs .

Then you should have used your auto bird-rotator :) (or waited until the bird shifted a bit--they actually do that often when they are resting...)

[Aidan Briggs]

Oops, I left my auto bird-rotator at home... A passing group of gulls scared this guy away before it shifted position.