Snowy Plover

[Luis Villablanca]

I photographed this plover at Fort Myers back in March.
The sun was a bit high still but it was a bit overcast and the light was being nicely reflected on the sand.
I didn't want to clone out the leaves since they give a sense of the bird's habitat.


Snowy Plover - Charadrius alexandrinus
Canon 1D Mark IV, 500/4 + 1.4x TC on skimmer pod, 1/1000s, f/8, ISO 500, 90% FF

C&C are welcome.
--
Luis

[Brendan Dozier]

Beautiful Plover, Luis, nice HA and low angle capture. Like the soft light and kind of high-key look with the white BG, with just enough contrast to give outline to bird. Always nice to include habitat, like the texture of sand, but wish some of the leafs along the birds plane were more in-focus. Might clone out just the most forward and farthest leafs to compare comps. Nice work!

[Richard Unsworth]

Beautifu lbird exposure of whites A1

Looks a bit like the bird is standing in mid air so I would like a little more contrast/def in the ground/sand

[Karl Egressy]

"Looks a bit like the bird is standing in mid air so I would like a little more contrast/def in the ground/sand"
Or you could go the other way and clone out all the leaves to make the bird looking like standing on a cloud.

[Grace Scalzo]

Personally, I love the dreamy feel of this image. Quite captivating and I enjoyed viewing it. In that the habitat elements are quite dominant, I personally would leave them in but blur them so that they attract a bit less attention. (Escecially the ones in the Lower right corner as viewed)

Thanks for sharing this beauty.

[Luis Villablanca]

Thanks all for the comments and ideas.
I like the idea of blurring out some of the leaves. I think I'll blur the one in the LRC and maybe clone out the leaf under its feet.
I'll work when I get home tonight and post an update.

[gail bisson]

This image has a dreamy ethereal feel to it. The bird does look like he is floating on a cloud. Very cool effect Agree with cloning out leaf under the foot,
Gail

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Luis, very nice indeed. low angle is terrific but a slightly higher might have worked better. hard on a skimmer pod, I know :-) If you dont, you might want to consider carrying a small bean bag along with skimmer pod. I have the simple kinesis bean bag. I think the combination of bean bag and skimmer pod give nice low angle options.

loved the whites, the surreal feel and sharpness. excellent shot all around.

[Stu Bowie]

Luis, I really like these type of images where the subjects colours blend into the surrounding BG, and in this, it works perfectly. I quite like the added foliage scattered around the image. I agree, light reflected off sand works wonders for better exposure.

[Luis Villablanca]

Luis, I really like these type of images where the subjects colours blend into the surrounding BG, and in this, it works perfectly. I quite like the added foliage scattered around the image. I agree, light reflected off sand works wonders for better exposure.

Thanks Stuart. One thing that I like about these birds is how well they blend into their environment.
It took me quite a while to locate them even though they were right next to me. Sometimes only when I was about to
step on them they moved away and I was able to see them.

The ones in Ft. Myers seem to be light, matching the white sands of that place, while the ones we find around here in
San Francisco seem to be darker, with a color closer to the sand around them.
Here is one taken here:

[Stu Bowie]

Luis, thanks for the feedback, and interesting how different species blend in with their surroundings. Being 600 kms from the nearest sea, I miss my shore birds.

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful image - has the feeling of an Asian art print. I like the idea of blurring the LRC, but I'd leave the contrast as is. I was also struck how light he seems compared to the West Coast ones I've seen. Very nicely captured.

[Luis Villablanca]

Thanks again to all who commented.
Here is a version with the proposed changes.

[arash_hazeghi]

great shot Luis I love the pose, maybe just a bit more clean up of the sand?