Watercolor

[arash_hazeghi]

Here is another shot from the American Avocet in habitat series, I shot through foreground marshes in afternoon light to create this effect, half of the beak is wet :) hope you like it



5D MKII 500f/4 IS + 1.4X TC, f/7.1 1/1000sec ISO 400 sw DPP

[christopher galeski]

nice one Arash,plenty of detail in the head,nice BG FG,I might just lighten the eye a tad,like you say, water color.thanks.

[Adams Serra]

Hi Arash,
this is my favorite image of the series.
just beautiful, congratulations.

[Tobias Hayashi]

Excellent! You've used this to perfection, I love how the head just jumps out of the vegetation. A very beautiful head as well. Awesome work!

[Elinor Osborn]

Beautiful colors! And the contrast of sharp bird and blurred surroundings is terrific. I'm curious about the sharp green object over the bird's wing. Was it a large leaf in focus? Would you consider cloning out or covering the white across the lower right?

[Juan Aragonés]

It works very well in my opinion but I would love to see just a litle bit more room at the left. Just a matter of taste, of course :)

[denise ippolito]

Arash, This is lovely. I like the softness mixed w/ the sharp details of the head. The background is fantastic! Great eye for this!!!:)

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Very very well done! Love the painterly effect.

[Greg Basco]

Arash, I love this kind of shot and you did it extremely well here. If I could improve anything, I would agree with Juan that it would have been nice to have just a little more room on the left. But, it's certainly a great image as presented.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice!! The FG vegetation worked to your advantage. Amazing colours throughout, and I love the "brushstroke" effect. I like the comp as is, but agree the eye could be lightened a wee bit (iris only).

Elinor: the "object" you speak of is part of the Avocet's plumage:)

[Elinor Osborn]

Now I see it. The grass turned the black wing greenish. Thanks for the enlightenment. Again, beautiful!

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks a lot guys for nice comments,

Elinor, Dan is right there is small gap between the vegetation and the plumage is visible through the gap (focus plain is on the bird) I have already brightened the eye a bit so that the pupil is visible, brightening more will make it a bit unrealistic compared to real life Avocet IMO

Thanks again :)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Arash, well seen and beautifully composed. the sharp bird stands out quite well from the textured FG and BG. The light angle has contributed a lot towards bringing out the feather details. A IOTW candidate, I'd say.

[Ramon M. Casares]

One of the most wonderfull shots I have seen here in a while! Comp, light, species, aesthetics, colors and detail, all is A+ IMO. Congratulations!

[John Ippolito]

Remarkable image, Arash. The color palette, framing of the avocet, and the effect of the oof vegetation make this a work of art. Excellent.