Unusual lighting

[Jean-Luc Vaillant]

This was shot at La Jolla shores a couple of weeks ago. The second light source is a reflection from a building window, creating a few patches of backlighting. That plover only stayed there for a few seconds so I could not reframe to eliminate the "thing" under its tail (should I photoshop that out?). I do like the 3D effect the light creates though and was wondering what you guys thought.



1Dmk4, 500mm+1.4x, manual 1/640s @ f7.1, ISO 250

[Randy Stout]

Jean-Luc:

The lighting here is very interesting, makes me think of a studio or stage shot.

I would remove the spot under the tail. I might also smooth out the BG in the RUC.

Would prefer the body angle towards us, but the lighting helps it work despite the angle.

A different look. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes, quite interesting effect here with the building window reflection. I like it - to me it looks like a night image illuminated by car headlights. Normally I would prefer the body not angled away, but here it looks like it is attracted to a light source in that direction. I would definitely remove the "thing" under the tail, and clean up the URC (as Randy suggests). Maybe a bit of CW rotation needed.

[Charles Scheffold]

I really like the lighting and composition. The gradient in the sand is very nice. However, I'm not as keen on the head angle. I would be OK with the bird facing the direction it is facing if the head were turned more toward the camera.

thanks
Charles