Black-winged stilt.

[Tom Rambaut]

1D MK4, 500mm + 1.4ext, 1/800 @ 8, iso500, EV -2/3.

I would have liked to be lower but that was not possible.

Thanks Tom

[Arthur Morris]

Love the face on these guys and those red, red irises. Great job with the WHITEs and catching that open beak with the drops flying. A bit too tight for my taste but killer sharp. AIA well done!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Ditto Artie, and even though you were not lower I still wish for more room below. Lovely subtle ripples in the water...

[Ofer Levy]

Awesome sharpness and detail! Pose is sweet too. Light looks quite harsh to me. I try to avoid getting images of Stilts when the legs can't be seen as they are such a strong feature of these birds.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Lovely detail and nice droplets..>I would maybe tone down the brightness a touch..Really pops nicely from the water.

[Tom Rambaut]

Thanks for the comments - will try a recrop and may recalibrate me large screen - people are seeing the image lighter than me. Agreed, It is all about the legs with these guys. This one just landed infront of me and started to call. Took the opp. to shoot off a couple of frames.

[Tom Rambaut]

Awesome sharpness and detail! Pose is sweet too. Light looks quite harsh to me. I try to avoid getting images of Stilts when the legs can't be seen as they are such a strong feature of these birds.

It was 8.11.30 am when this shot was taken.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Tom, sharpness, bird parallel, open bill, whites, droplets, BG....well done on all those fronts. Definitely needs more room below IMO. The legs appear a bit hot.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great pose with nice detail and exposure. I would prefer a tad more room on the right sied. I really like the water drops

[Raymond Lee]

I think the framing/cropping isn't too tight, but I do wish there is more room below. The blacks are nicely exposed with great feather details, but I agree with the above comments that the brightness and exposure need to be toned down a bit. The legs need to be darken as well, and that was the first thing popped up in my mind when I look at the photo.

[Tom Rambaut]

I had a look at the orignal file and there was a reason for the little room at the bottom - There is a huge bit of floating gunge in the water, it is intermingled with the reflection and beyond my PS skills to take out.