Semipalmated Plover and a Beach Flower.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This little guy has been hanging around a dead and decomposing Canada Goose carcass for the past number of days, picking and plucking small insects, so it was rather pleasing that it choose to momentarily pose next to a beach flower (and it certainly smelled better too...) This poor little guy had an ugly chunk of feathers missing from its' head (almost exposing its' scalp), so I gave him a new 'do to be more proud of in post processing.

Canon 7D + 100-400L @350mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1600s., f/7.1, ISO 400, natural light, handheld, full-frame (0.5 degree rotation and lopped off the corners). Lightened the underside of the belly and throat via dodge tool (fill flash would have been good to use in the harsh light and subsequent shadows under there).

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Sweet little fellow, nice shooting angle, sharp and well exposed, nice job on evening out the lighting. Really like the subject isolation created by your very low angle.

Looks like a dandelion to me, but a lot better than a goose carcass.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks Randy. I was actually hoping it would hop on the carcass...that would have made for a different type of shorebird image!!

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:


Must be a sub species, the semi palmated carrion plover.

Randy

[Arno Ellmer]

I like the well balanced comp,Daniel with the flower adding to the overall image ,as well as the low angle.
Excellent pp work in fixing the hair(feather ) do !

[Ofer Levy]

Beautifully composed image! Excellent techs and nicely balanced composition. Eye looks good...

[dankearl]

A really nice photo as usual, Daniel.
All the small details, you always cover (the eye, as Ofer pointed out).
Really good processing, the only thing I think would look better is a bit less
horizontal crop with a bit more at the top.
The DOF is perfect, I see no reason for fill flash, the shadows appear minimal.

[DanieBenade]

Nice DOF and the BG is just awesome. Like the comp with the flower in front.

[christopher galeski]

absolute beauty,nice low angle,sharp,nice lighting,like the plant.well done.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The DOF is perfect, I see no reason for fill flash, the shadows appear minimal.

Thanks Dan! That is because I fixed the shadows in PS. Had I used fill-flash I would not have had that work to do in post.

[denise ippolito]

Sweet image Daniel, I like the composition and the sharpness.

[Chris Kotze]

Nice one I like the low angle detail and the exposure is spot on

[yogesh_puranik]

i just loved this image nice details BG that grass is lovely balance..superb...

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

nice shooting angle, sharp and well exposed!!!!!

[Mark Itol]

Superb in all departments, Daniel. You've covered it all. I like the grains/sand on the beak. Would be interested to see how the bird looked before it entered the beauty salon.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Gorgeous image Daniel. Love the brown/golden tones, low angle, the cute subject and the flowering weed.
Excellent job with the shadows. The comp is perfect for me. Excellent image.

[Nico Steenberg]

Great angle and DOF with good sharpness and soft colours. A stunning shot.

[Tom Rambaut]

Love it - the comp, balance of the bird and flower and BG been as clean as it is. Also like the bits of sand on the beak. Would have not noticed the new hair do if you had not mentioned it.

[Geir Jensen]

A beautiful picture. The composition is balanced with nice flower. Sharp with nice colors.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Beautiful all over.

[Arthur Morris]

Great job in post with the harsh light and in getting the bird and the flower on the exact same plane. I would definitely lose the big dark blob top center. Nice job on the top of the head too.

[arash_hazeghi]

lovely image Dan, iI like the composition that goes with the delicate bird

[Karl Egressy]

Great low angle and beautiful OOF for-and background, Daniel. I also like the nice HA and eye contact.