American Avocets "The Marching Begins"

[James Salywoda]

American Avocets
Southern California

After mating American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts do a dance and its quite the spectacular event to view and photograph.


Nikon D300s AFS 600 F4 1.4 TC
1/2000 F8 ISO 800

Thanks For Looking

Jim

[Danny J Brown]

Rich, milk chocolate color and a poetic pose go together to produce a compelling, romantic image. Your skilled use of a moderately tight aperture brought the aft bird nicely into focus. The lines from the tails, over the heads, and down to the breasts sweep along with elegant geometry. The bills are in synch as well, each with the tiniest droplet of water. I probably would have went a 5 x 4 aspect ratio instead, but who am I to tinker with your art. As always, thanks for setting the bar high enough to inspire the rest of keep our muscles in tone.

DB

[Kurt Bowman]

No nits from me....beautiful capture. Love the pose of them both and the water droplets on the beaks really add to shot providing a sense of motion.

[Arthur Morris]

Quite wonderful. In an ideal world the head angle of the bird in front would have matched the head angle of the bird in the rear. As captured, it is turned away from us just a bit. SH and d-o-f exceptional. EXP perfect as expected.

[Stu Bowie]

Excellent detail James, and Im glad you left room at the bottom for the virtual legs. I do like the similar poses. An opportunity well used.

[stuart wanuck]

i love it!

[Dan Brown]

Great postures, James! DOF is showing sharpness on both birds and I really think this is perfectly illustrating the difference in the bill curves of the two sexes!

[Kerry Perkins]

Jim, this is beautiful for all the reasons mentioned above. Such elegance and grace... Wonderful work as always. I especially love the protective stance of the male behind the female. Just lovely.

[Randy Stout]

Jim:

Beautifully composed, captured and processed.

Cheers

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

Jim: Beautifully composed, captured and processed. Cheers Randy

Randy, Do you feel that this image would be improved if the head of the front bird were turned a bit more towards us so that it was perfectly parallel to the bill of the bird in the back?

[Randy Stout]

Randy, Do you feel that this image would be improved if the head of the front bird were turned a bit more towards us so that it was perfectly parallel to the bill of the bird in the back?

Yes - it would be icing on a fine cake. My first impression when I opened the image was that there was too much overlap of the birds. To my eye, the separation of the rear birds bill from the head of the front bird allows it to work however. Perfectly parallel bills would notch it up another level.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Randy. Just checking :) I agree that it is a wonderful image. I wish that I were not the only noting fine points for possible improvement in top-notch images. That wish is for everyone not just the Mods :)

[Katie Rupp]

Great postures, James! DOF is showing sharpness on both birds and I really think this is perfectly illustrating the difference in the bill curves of the two sexes!

Echoing Dan's comment, I really appreciate seeing the difference in the bills and will be looking for this behavior locally, although I think this happens a little later here.

[Grace Scalzo]

Artie and all, I am trying to learn more about the fine points of Head Angle, not looking to contradict.
With the HA of the front bird mirroring the back bird, there would be more contact with the viewer. With her head tucked and turned slightly toward him, I feel a sense of intimacy between the birds. There is a sweetness, a coyness to her pose that I would not feel if both were turned to me, plus, this image is all about these two creatures. I'm engaged as the viewer, as an observer of their world, not part of it in this case. What do you think? Am I off base or missing something?

[Arthur Morris]

Missing something I guess :) Yes, with the front bird looking a bit back at the male their is a bit more intimacy than if the heads were perfectly parallel. But for me, there are two negatives with the head of the front bird angled away:

1-Note the way that the light strikes the face of the rear bird and compare that with the way it strikes (or does not strike) the head of the front bird. The head of the female is not lit as well as the head of the male (in the back). Why? Because its head it turned away from the light.

2-For juxtaposition images, symmetry is highly desired. Symmetry here would include the two heads and bills being perfectly parallel.

For me, 1 + 2 is far better than a small degree of intimacy.

I wonder which head angle James would prefer if he had his druthers.

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks, Artie, I see your point. I hope that James weighs in with his thoughts as the maker.

[James Salywoda]

Thanks Everyone!!! When I shot the series I liked the way the female was positioned towards the male as I was thinking like Grace as it just made the moment more intimate to me with the closeness of the two. I can understand and see your thoughts on the ideal position. Here is another frame out of the sequence that some others might like better.

[arash_hazeghi]

Both are excellent Jim, love the details and full breeding plumage! just excellent. I saw a couple up here today morphing to breeding plumage!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks James, I surely like the head angles and the light on the face better in the repost but the symmetry in the original post is a bit stronger. Both great images and too close to call for me :)

[denise ippolito]

James, I love the OP and the repost. I would go with the original because it does seem that they are pushing up to each other in an cozy way. Sharpness , BG and exposure are all lovely as usual.

[Kiran Poonacha]

I just loved the moment captured here James Bhai, great DOF too..

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Woah ! Great use of DOF to nail this one !!!

[Mark Young]

Wow! Beautiful composition and exposure in both images.