Black Turnstone

[Dave Leroy]

This was taken a week or so ago at Point Roberts. 50D, 1/180, f/5.6, ISO800. Slight crop from left and bottom. The bird was feeding on the barnacles. Dave

[Brian Barcelos]

You got great detail on his head and chest but I'm not sure what happened to his rear? Did you blur it? I'd also tone down the BG and brighter rocks a bit. Overall still a nice enviro image.

[Stu Bowie]

Great close up Dave, and it seems you didnt have enough light to stop down for more DOF. What you have is nice and sharp, and I would maybe take a bit off the top.

[Tony Whitehead]

Nice intimate image with nice behaviour with the concentrated look over the barnacles. What lens did you use, Dave? I'm guessing a pretty long focal length at close range hence the very shallow DOF. The eye and bill being sharp is what counts. Agree with Stuart on trimming some from above -I'd aim to get the eye up close to a line of thirds.

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

Nice. The rock with the barnacles is outstanding, really nice detail. My first thought when opening the image was to tone down the rocky background above. Cropping is certainly a way to tone it down, and I would do that as suggested, but might still bring the brightness down some.
It would be interesting if you have a frame with the birds head turned a bit more towards that interesting rock.

Thanks

Randy

[Michael Lloyd]

Nice work capturing a dark subject on a lighter background. The beak, head, and eye are tack sharp. If you can, you might run it through a quick Shadows and Highlights adjustment to tone down the brighter rocks a little and add some contrast. Applying a contrast mask is another option.

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

I had a minute to try some of the ideas mentioned above.

Small crop from above, toned down the rocks above esp., but also toned down some foreground rocks a bit.

Very nice image, just my .02 as far as an option or two.

Randy

[Michael Lloyd]

I did a quick S&H adjustment, applied a contrast mask (simple and quick to do), applied a curves adjustment to the mask, painted white on the BG and black on the bird (in the mask), left the mask alone on the foreground rocks (other than the curves adjustment), and tweaked the curve (image not mask) to take the BG down. All in under 5 minutes. Not because I'm fast, because it's easy to do. There is some slight haloing because I was too speedy with the brush. Easily fixed but my intent is to extol the virtues of contrast masking not perfection :)

I really like the subdued colors of the rocks. Very nice setting

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

beautiful pose,head details,soft light!

[Clement Francis]

What a magnificiant looking species. This is a first timer for me....

[Aidan Briggs]

One of my favorite species! Nice exposure, pose, and eye contact. Too bad about the DOF... I agree with Randy on cropping from the top, and while I like Micheal's idea, I probably would go in between his and the OP.

[Dave Leroy]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I do have a couple with a little more contact with the barnacles, and I will take the suggestions in mind and work up another posting.
Yes you are right Tony, it was a 500mm f/4 lens. I'll keep that rule of thirds idea in mind.
I agree Brian that the tail area and top of back look a bit off. Perhaps some sloppy pp'n when I had masked out bg or bird.
I agree it would be nice to have more light to work with. Heavy overcast weather most days now around here. It does mean lots of soft light and no shadows all day long though.
Tks Again, Dave

[Daniel Cadieux]

With the focus point falling exactly where it should be I am fine with the DOF. The PP works at the tail area really deserves some fixing though! Agree with cropping above. Great rocky habitat - love the foot sticking the the sloping surface of the rock (wish I could see the tip of the toe).