Dunlin (Juvenile molting to 1st winter)

[gail bisson]

This guy still has a bit of breeding plumage on him.
I have tried to incorporate all of Artie's tips from my last picture (yellow legs at sunrise).
1. My EV was +1 (manual)Didn't go higher cause I didn't want to blow the whites
2. Minimal crop from the top and left lots of space below.
3. Sharpened as per DB book
4. Didn't play around to much with PS-just reduced BG noise and added 2 points blacks in neutrals and blacks
5. Taken Sept 29 at 6:15PM
Canon 7D
F 4 500mm
ISO 400
SS 1/2000
f 7.1
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from,
Gail

[Mital Patel]

what a great specimen this is. wonderful pose, compo, light, processing everything i liked on this.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Gorgeous pose, low angle, processing, light - it's all wonderful here.
Well done, Gail.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Nicely captured, sharp, well exposed, nice angle in frame, raised foot, low shooting angle.

Works for me.

Cheers

Randy

[Melissa Groo]

...and you went for more DoF! Great job here, Gail, I think you did wonderfully here. Lovely light, nice pose, great detail.
It looks like there may be some kind of selective sharpening artifact around the eye, but maybe I'm imagining this.

[dankearl]

Great pose, light, reflection and color.
Very well done.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the processing and the image--the raised foot and the pose. Thanks for your purchase of Digital Basics. Simple is better. And in the next update I will be making the RAW conversions even simpler by changing my recommended defaults. You do however need to get a copy of Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers and so does everyone above. Why? The bird is a juvenile Dunlin molting to 1st winter!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Gail, low angle always works for me...even though it doesnt always result in clear reflections. Good job on timing....the whole foot out of water makes a difference. strong diagonal....very nice work. If mine, I'd try a slight color sat boost for the water.

[gail bisson]

thanks everyone for the c&c.
Artie,
thanks for the ID info. feel free to change my caption

[Mital Patel]

Love the processing and the image--the raised foot and the pose. Thanks for your purchase of Digital Basics. Simple is better. And in the next update I will be making the RAW conversions even simpler by changing my recommended defaults. You do however need to get a copy of Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers and so does everyone above. Why? The bird is a juvenile Dunlin molting to 1st winter!

Thanks a stack Artie, By first seeing this image doesnt felt me for sanderling features any how. Then i took some books and went through specs. Specially the beak looks more longer for sanderling. But as i was not sure haven't disclosed just commented on the image quality.

Not an expert but yes i really love to know are they take such breeding like tones in 1st winter being molting juv ? here we see less of them in season and for juvis they are really paler or i would say very monotonus. Plz guide.


For the image i really loved this one.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, I like your overall comp with the placement of the Dunlin in the URC. Good feeding pose and well timed to get the raised leg. Good work.

[Arthur Morris]

Dunlins in fresh juvenile plumage have lots of rufous in the scapulars like juvenile Westerns and juvenile White-rumpeds. But, they begin the molt to 1st winter before they even leave the breeding grounds so you never see a juvenile Dunlin on migration without at least some molt showing. Gail's bird is pretty fresh but the gray feathers on the back and of the scapulars are first winter feathers. It is all in Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers....

And yes, Sanderling would have a shorter, thicker based bill. And they would be much lighter toned in fall...

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful overall. I like the feeding pose and lowish angle. I wouldn't mind a tad more room below (I find the reflection close to the edge), and does the image need a bit of CCW rotation? I haven't seen Dunlin yet this year...still lots of time though!

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful overall. I like the feeding pose and lowish angle. I wouldn't mind a tad more room below (I find the reflection close to the edge), and does the image need a bit of CCW rotation? I haven't seen Dunlin yet this year...still lots of time though!

Dunlin along with juvenile white-rumpeds and juvie long-billed dows are late arrivals, averaging last week in SEPT/first week in OCT. Most years.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Gail, you did good, real good. The pp is perfect and the image is awesome too . Love the raised foot and low angle.

[Mark Itol]

Excellent detail, nice pose, and great colors. Well done, Gail.

[Jim Crosswell]

Nice image Gail! I like the low angle, exposure and raised foot.

[Raul Padilla]

Great work Gail, great comp