Sandpiper

[Brendan Dozier]

I liked the low angle on this one but I feel it still needs some detail and sharpening on the head. I did do a linear burn on the whites on the front head (from Art's digital basics) which did bring back some detail, and also some selective sharpening, however, could not seem to get the right results with selective sharpening. Tried both unsharp mask and smart sharpening (not shown on this image) Seems either the sharpening looks a bit overdone or the head starts to look flat. The RAW file was pretty sharp at 100%. Image was shot at 8:45am so the light was not ideal. Cloned out some black rocks and lightened some darker areas in U BG.

7D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM +2.0x
Manual
1/640
10.0
ISO Speed 400
Evaluative Metering

C & C welcom & appreciated,

- Brendan

[Dave Leroy]

Very nice composition and pose. Some may prefer more room all around, but this looks fine to me.

I would clone out the white spots in the water- reflected highlights.

Sharpening looks fine to me or slightly over done. But it is also a contrasty image so could be my eyes.

Interesting how that one foot disappears into the sand.

Nice eye contact.

Dave

[christopher galeski]

Brendan,very nice shot,your title says sandpiper,but I think it is a godwit.thanks.

[Paul Guris]

The bird is a Marbled Godwit.

I love the image, and I particularly like the beach with the bubbles. Very different and more interesting than clean wet sand. The body of the bird looks a bit off to me for some reason, but I can't really articulate it. I'm wondering if you toned down the contrast there a bit if the bird might look less harsh.

[Allen Hirsch]

I think Paul may be onto something.

The light looks very warm; yet the bird's body tone seems harsh, even in that light. It might be contrast or sharpening, but it would be worth laying with those parameters to see if you "warm up" the godwit's body.

I like the pose and love the beach texture & bubbles - this is worth spending time on to see if it can be moved up that extra notch.

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. Oops sorry about that, it is a Marbled Godwit. Oh well, still learning my birds as well as photography. Allen, I think you are right about the body color (a bit warm) and contrast. I'll work on it some more and see if I can improve it.

[Julie Kenward]

Brendan, you asked about the sharpening on the head...are you referring to the "cheek" area that looks softer than the rest of the head? If so, you might try using a high pass filter and just mask off the rest of the image and see if that brings out a little more detail there.

To use the HPF, combine your layers into one (Ctrl +ALT + E) and then go to filter/Other/High Pass. The entire image will turn a funky gray. You're looking for a bit of a lighter color to show up where there is contrast between the feathers, usually this is between 1-6 pixels at most. Once you see the lines start to appear, switch the blend mode to either overlay or soft light (overlay will give a more pronounced and stark look than soft light). You can use the opacity slider on the blend mode to pull it back if it is too much or you can start over and redo the amount of pixels on the HPF.

Let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps!

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks so much for the tutorial Jules! That soft light option really makes a difference and it did help bring out more detail. However, not going to repost, but wait for a better opportunity next time. I felt there was just not enough IQ coming out of the cameral, and light was just a bit bright.

btw, I know you liked the cats image, and agreed with your suggestions, but decided to stay more true to the original photo and did a different version - If you have time, check the repost on that, and let me know what you think.

Thanks again for all your help and good honest advice!