Some rain finally

[Sidharth Kodikal]

After 80+ days of 100+ degree F temps and a severe drought, we had a 15 minute shower the weekend before last.
To me this Killdeer certainly seemed to enjoy the rain and the spectacular sunset we had that day.

Canon 1D4, 500mm, 1.4x TC II
1/640, f7.1, iso 640, manual.
Almost full frame, minor crop after leveling.

I cannot seem to look at this image objectively. I'm very biased by the memory of that gorgeous evening :)
Comments appreciated.

[Mital Patel]

Sidharth,

This is marvelous piece of Gold. Light looks stunning and so the point of shooting angle to me. Loved it all the way.

[Jim Crosswell]

A real beauty Sidharth! I like low angle, lighting, sharpness, composition and the sweet FG/BG.

[Herb Houghton]

Certainly a winner Sidharth. I love the low angle as mentioned, but the oof FGD/BGD does it for me. I like the gold tones in the top half of the image. I hope you get more rain soon, I'm sure the sprinkle was absorbed rather quickly.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Sid, great low perspective here, with a super pose. I like the BG colour reflected in the FG, together with the overall colour of the BG. The Kildeer is nice and sharp. Well captured.

[dankearl]

It is a beauty Sidharth. The BG color is superb.
It looks like it needs just a bit of leveling.
Sharp, nice pose, well done.

[Geir Jensen]

A beautiful picture. Nice BG. A great Shore Bird. Well done.

[gail bisson]

A real beauty! Love the gold BG and the pose. Superb IQ as always,
Gail

[yogesh_puranik]

wow..superb low angle nice sharp bird and lovely BG..grt one

[Karl Egressy]

Great low angle shot, with nice background. The bird is a beauty.

[Sid Garige]

Excpetional image Sidharth. great shooting angle and wonderful background.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent low angle, and great golden BG. I like the comp too. Had the head been angled the same as the body this would have been even better! The eye ring is aglow

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp, killer light and colors, EXP perfect. Looks pretty level to me. As Dan does, I wish that the bird were more parallel to the back of the camera.

[Melissa Groo]

Beautiful image, Sidharth, love these colors, low angle, and setting. Wonderful job.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Thank you all for the nice comments!

Herb, yes, not nearly enough rain, but it was refreshing. It did stir up some action too - I had 4 new yard birds that afternoon.

Daniel, Artie,

I was able to capture all kinds of poses. Parallel to the sensor as Artie would like and HA == BA as Daniel would :)
Also raised the rig a few inches and pointed the lens down for a reflection for some.
And finally, underexposed ambient a bit to get a darker bg and used flash to give the bird a pop.
Lots to process, but for whatever reason, I liked this pose.

[adrian dancy]

This is superb, colours , detail etc are all top notch. I think the bird is positioned well: if it were paralell to the camera the damaged wing feathers would be more noticeable.

[Mark Itol]

Superb shooting angle and background. Excellent detail, too. Well done, Sidharth.

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot. Superb low angle and wonderful background. Great pose and detail. Well done.

[RAM MALLYA]

Awesome light and Bg and low level . Liked the red circle around the eyes. We have a similar bird in our area with a yellow circle the little ringed plover