American Avocet In-Flight

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L
1/800 f/6.3 Auto-ISO (100) HH

S/H and sharpening in CS5

[Eric Patdu]

Wow! I really like the colors and PP work you did on this one. I would have cropped the lower portion and added more canvas on top if this were mine.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Eric. I really like the colors on Avocets at this time of year. They go from a near-white head in the winter to a nice brown at breeding time. Not much PP on this one. I liked him at the ROT position rather than centered.

[Julie Kenward]

I love this one, Ian! Well done! I like your position within the frame as well - the room at the bottom gives him room for the legs to float and that works for me.

Only suggestion I have for this one is to see if you can bring out any more detail on the dark area of the back wing. Everything else looks great!

[Robert Holguin]

What a beautiful pic. I love everything about. Great flight pose, great colors. Well done.

[Bill Dix]

What a sweet shot. Great flight position, beautiful colors, HA and dangling feet. Ditto Jules' comment about the shadows -- might try the s/h tool on the bird to see if that helps bring out the rear wing and de-emphasize the hard shadow line.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks for the suggestions. My PP skills are still pretty weak. I've been wrestling with that back wing and just can't improve it so far.