Excellent shot, I love it. Good sharpness, colors, head angle, reflection, & dof. Especially like the angle of the light. My first thought was to compose with the bird a little further to the right of center, but looking at it again I don't think that would improve it. Very well done.
I also like the HA and the position of the bird to the light. If you check your histogram you'll see that you've clipped both the whites and the blacks in this image. The whites show up on the breast and back feathers of the bird. (You can tell because there is next to no detail in those white feathers.) Make sure you have your camera set to show you blown highlights and this will help correct the problem in the field.
I also think your aperture choice was a bit shallow considering the bird is not flat to the focal plane. Can you see how the back feathers are not nearly as sharp as the feathers near the neck area? Stopping down more in aperture - especially when the BG is this clean - would really have helped capture the bird so it was detailed from head to "rudder". ;)
Hi - Doing well HAL a few things as mentioned by Jules - might be abler to recover those whites when you do your raw conversion. To get detail in both the blacks and whites you would have needed softer light.
I like the warmth provided by the late afternoon light. Good HA and eye contact and reflection is strong enought o warrant inclusion - but not crazy about the squareish crop.
Keep em coming :)
Pectoral Sandpiper
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