Golden Plover juv.

[Geir Jensen]

The images is from Norway . Data: 1D MK III , 500mm + 1,4 Converter , 1/1000 , F6,3 , ISO 640 , Bean bag , Lightroom .

[Stan Cunningham]

Great focus on the head and chest, and the bird's color blends nicely with the surroundings.
I just wish you could have seen his legs, whatever is in the way (rock?) is a little distracting.
If it were mine I'd use a QM or brush to make the background one solid texture and color, but that's just my preference.

[Randy Stout]

Geir:

Well exposed, good shooting angle.

Was there something in front of the chest in the foreground to give it the slightly hazy look? The crown and back have much more contrast.

Not seeing the legs is unfortunate, but it does give the sense that he is just tucked in behind the stone.

Cheers

Randy

[Dave Leroy]

A very nice and sharp pose. I find the rock in front distracting and wonder if there is another framing option. Perhaps taking from bottom and both sides for a portrait. As presented the plovers legs don't seem to have enough room behind the rock.

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful breeding plumage - would love to see one of this species in this coloration. Head nice and sharp. It almost looks as if there was some oof vegetation or something blurring the chest; and I would also like to see legs, or at least virtual legs. BG is ok with me.

[Randy Stout]

Geir:

Had a second to think about your image, and do a few tweaks on the chest area. I thought if I could bring up the contrast and detail on the chest a bit it would be more effective.

I used Nik Pro Color Efex to tease out some detail and contrast on the breast. I utilized both the detail extractor and tonal contrast filter, making multiple passes with the latter, plus burned the lightest areas just a bit, as there was still a fairly light band after using Nik.

You could do a better job with the raw file, as I felt I didn't have enough detail to work with for the best result, but I do think the idea comes across.

Cheers

Randy

[Geir Jensen]

Geir:

Had a second to think about your image, and do a few tweaks on the chest area. I thought if I could bring up the contrast and detail on the chest a bit it would be more effective.

I used Nik Pro Color Efex to tease out some detail and contrast on the breast. I utilized both the detail extractor and tonal contrast filter, making multiple passes with the latter, plus burned the lightest areas just a bit, as there was still a fairly light band after using Nik.

You could do a better job with the raw file, as I felt I didn't have enough detail to work with for the best result, but I do think the idea comes across.

Cheers

Randy

I like it

[Dave Leroy]

Repost is a real nice improvement. Nice of you to take the time Randy. The rework also seems to make the balance of the detail in the head area stand out more as well. Photo is extremely sharp.