Black-bellied Plover

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk III, 500mm f/4L, 1/160, f/4, ISO 800
Fill Flash at -3 with Better Beamer
About 70% of Full Frame
Removed some sand from the bill.

Photographed last week at the eastern end of Sanibel Island.
The sun had just gone down and the wet sand took on a purplish glow for a few minutes.

Looking forward to your comments and critiques !

[Jim Poor]

I really enjoy the colors and the shells. Especially the one with a little red / orange on it. The purple sand is sweet!

The whites on the belly / breast are not blown (highest reading I got was 228) but the seem a little bright compared to the rest of the image. Looking at the legs, there seems to be a bit of a cast. I might remove or reduce it selectively from the legs, eye & bill but the color certainly adds to the rest of the image.

[Fabs Forns]

The whites are white because of the fill flash I believe, love the pinkish mood of the image, similar to the ones taken real early in the morning, before the sun comes up.
The shells really add to the composition.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Great low angle.composition and pose!
Agree for the orange shell!

[Jean-Luc Vaillant]

Lovely, lovely tones, perfect head angle.The shells in the composition really add to the shot. I would try local enhancement contrast on the bird (unsharp mask with a 50 pt radius) to pop it up a bit. A horizontal shot would have been killer but this is very nice as it is...

Jluc

[Krijn Trimbos]

The low angle absolutely rocks here! I am not too fond of crops like this, but that is highly personal. You could try to give it a little more pop using curves, but it already looks good to me. Love the light, very well done!

[Arthur Morris]

I love it but wish that you had pointed the lens one-half inch to the right... "Always leave an inch behind the legs with VERT front-end COMPs. In addition, this would have cut the shell on the left frame edge in half rather than clipping it. Cut don't clip... Love the shells, esp. the one with the pink bars on it. (Wish that there was not the small shell in front of it.)

later and love and keep them plovers coming... artie

[Mike Milicia]

I love it but wish that you had pointed the lens one-half inch to the right... "Always leave an inch behind the legs with VERT front-end COMPs. In addition, this would have cut the shell on the left frame edge in half rather than clipping it. Cut don't clip... Love the shells, esp. the one with the pink bars on it. (Wish that there was not the small shell in front of it.)

Thanks for the feedback, Artie !
I actually tried to use your "one inch" rule when deciding on the crop but I guess I need a new ruler :)
Obviously hadn't considered the "cut don't clip" though.
Fortunately, I had enough image to take both into account and I do like it much better !
Thanks !

[Arthur Morris]

Much better. I would give it a bit more room behind the bird and take a sliver off the front. It's all about balance...

later and love, artie