Ruddy Turnstone

[Gayle Clement]

I photographed this ruddy turnstone at Fort Desoto earlier this week.

Comments and critiques welcome and appreciated.


Nikon D2Xs
Nikkor 500mm f/4
1/2000s f/4.0 at 500.0mm iso200

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Gayle

This image brought a smile to my face Sort of saying "I'm having dinner" Sure did a great job of processing Smooth as silk Wouldn't mind having a little more room behind the tail and less form the top Very appealing and beautiful !!!

[Arthur Morris]

The bird is superb, the scallop shell pretty good, and that blob thing is YUCK.... You could probably eliminate it with some good QM work... later and love, artie

[Jim Poor]

Gotta get rid of whatever that is in front of the shell. At first I thought the shell was sitting on it which would have made for an easy transition to a nice little mound of sand.

Other than that, this is beautiful.

[Juan Aragonés]

Sweeeet! I do not like that thing at the foreground but the light and composition is very nice. The open shell is a nice bonus here

[Glenn Bartley]

Agree about the blob. Personally Id also take some off the top and left. The image has tonnes of potential.

[Blake Shadle]

I look at this image and I definitely see what could be. An even lower shooting angle could open up a world of possibilities, although the blob would partly obscure the amazing shell at a lower angle. With the already recommended suggestions you can make a definite improvement to the image. Thanks for sharing.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Suggestions for improvements are already mentioned, so I will tell you what I like :-) Exposure, head and leg positions, upright opened shell, and smoothness of water all contribute to a potentially wonderful final result!!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

The above coverrs it all. Beautiful capture and exposure and detail on the turnstone.

[Gayle Clement]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions. It was exactly what I hoped for. I love the bird, liked the shell and wasn't sure about the seaweed. I do have more room to add a bit in the back and I'll work on the blob.

[Linda Robbins]

Beautiful bird and perfect capture. Love the shell. Agree that the blobby thing should go. Lovely image.

[Philip Pietri]

Very nice composition. I love the shell...I don't know what all of the fuss is about concerning the blob - it actually makes me think of a yummy Bratwurst (which is a good thing right?). Great exposure and the background is clean. Nice work!

[Gayle Clement]

I revised this one, eliminating the blob and recropping. I really appreciated everyone's suggestions.

[Arthur Morris]

Way to go Gayle. The repost is 1000X better. A few things more to create a great print. Get rid of the little bit of schmutz just behind and below the feet. Get rid of the specular shine on the shell. Lastly, create a Quick Mask of the upper scalloped surface of the shell and try a contrast mask: Unsharp Mask at 15-20/65-80/0. This will increase the apparent sharpness of the shell and darken it a bit.

later and love, artie

[Dave Phillips]

nice re-work Gayle.
Believe following Artie's last tips will make this a worthy hanger

[Gayle Clement]

A big thanks to Artie and everyone else for your help and advice with this image. I got more than my money's worth with just this photo! I 'll rework this one more time and post again.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Gayle, YAW. I look forward to seeing the final version.

later and love, artie

[Gayle Clement]

One more try with this one. I left the shadow under the shell this time. It looked a little naked just sitting there. If that doesn't work it's easy to just whisk it away.

Takes again for all of the generous remarks and assistance.
Gayle

[Arthur Morris]

PDP. Pretty darned perfect. Good idea to put the shell REFL back in....

later and love, artie

ps: You did a great job with the REFL which was not all there to start with!

[Gayle Clement]

Thanks so much, Artie.