Pacific Golden Plover

[Mark Young]

Taken yesterday. I would've liked to have feet on this bird, but it took flight just after I took this image and before I could manouver into a better position.

Canon 7D 300f4+1.4tc, ISO320, f7.1, 1/640, manual mode

[Chris Baker]

Very nice Mark, it's tack sharp, techs good, great light and even the HAP should be pleased. It's a shame about the feet but you can only take what's there, nice bird as well.

[John Chardine]

Superb Mark. Great to see the golden feathers. Great pose and head angle. Great low photographic angle and as Chris mentioned, beautifully sharp. I'm not worried about the feet because you cropped as if they were there so as we say "you left room for the virtual feet". Although I may not have seen all your posts I think this is your best yet!

[Dan Brown]

Great work Mark! Really nice BG, HA, sharpness, exp, and virtual feet! We only get this species as a rare migrant here on the west coast of the USA, so it's really cool to see a closeup!

[Melissa Groo]

Beautiful shot, colors, and clarity! Thanks for sharing it!

[Bill Dix]

Lovely image - sharp and well exposed. Shows his golden plumage very nicely. Great HA, and virtual feet OK.

[Mark Young]

Thanks for viewing and commenting everyone.

I thought the colours of this were a bit dull. I have done some PP work to make them a bit more true to life and a bit more vibrant, but how do you make sure that the colours in your images are nice and vibrant without looking over saturated? Could it maybe because I took this image in the harsh afternoon light rather than the sweet light <2 hours before sunset?

[Ray Rozema]

Beautiful color and detail. i don't think the color needs to be enhanced. Like the bkg/

TFS

[Dan Brown]

Thanks for viewing and commenting everyone.

I thought the colours of this were a bit dull. I have done some PP work to make them a bit more true to life and a bit more vibrant, but how do you make sure that the colours in your images are nice and vibrant without looking over saturated? Could it maybe because I took this image in the harsh afternoon light rather than the sweet light <2 hours before sunset?

Mark, the light doesn't seem harsh (contrasty?) to me! As for the color, I believe that it's really up to you to recreate what you saw. I believe these birds can vary in color depending on age and moult stage. I would be careful not to go too far with saturation!