American avocet

[Peter Coskun]

As much as I enjoy photographing this species, I find it difficult to get anything spectacular out of them. This one however caught my eye. It may have just been the calmness of the bird and just watching it in it's environment. I cropped this image about 30% and a slight linear burn on some of the whites. Anyways let me know what you think!

Canon eos 7d
Canon 400mm f/5.6L @ f/7.1
1/1000th of a sec
iso 320

[Doug Brown]

Hi Peter. I like the breeding colors and the sharpness here. The light angle is not optimal as the bird's head is not well lit. Also the bird is pointed away from you; better eye contact would help this image. Regarding the composition, I don't find the reflection strong enough to include the whole thing. I'd crop off the bottom and add a sliver of canvas up top.

[Peter Coskun]

Hi Peter. I like the breeding colors and the sharpness here. The light angle is not optimal as the bird's head is not well lit. Also the bird is pointed away from you; better eye contact would help this image. Regarding the composition, I don't find the reflection strong enough to include the whole thing. I'd crop off the bottom and add a sliver of canvas up top.

Thanks Doug, I was iffy on the composition because of the reflection. As for the eye contact, I seem to have a problem getting the right pose for eye contact with these birds making them difficult for me to shoot.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Peter,
Doug covered the specs so I can only add....patience and persistence are the key to getting the HA and pose.....this is true for us all!

[Peter Coskun]

Hi Peter,
Doug covered the specs so I can only add....patience and persistence are the key to getting the HA and pose.....this is true for us all!

Very true, unfortunately time was limited, though I may have an image with a good head angle