Solitary Sandpiper

[Paul Muhlrad]

This guy has been hanging out at Sweetwater Wetlands, in Tucson, AZ since at least September. Evidently, he has not studied his range map. I'm told that this is possibly the first Solitary Sandpiper ever reported to overwinter in Arizona. Here he is stretching his wings for me.

Canon 7D
400mm f/5.6L
200 ISO
1/1000 sec f/6.3 -1 EV Tv
RAW shot post processed in Lightroom




Paul (More Sweetwater pics here)

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Paul,

Nice record shot, I have never got one that special well done. When I first viewed the picture, it seemed underexposed and a bit dark. As I continued to study I see a great use of soft light and I love the open wings with feather detail - this is really good photography IMO!!

A unique composition and great use of color ranges with nice subject placement - wings wide open all the way to the top. The reflection does not bother me only wish for more room on the right. The vert framing is great and supports the pictures form and balance. There is a nice thread in the Education Forum on adding canvas - easy read and I think the picture would be stronger.

Happy Holiday Paul this is a strong picture - please keep them coming.

[Paul Muhlrad]

Hey Jeff, thanks for that helpful critique! I agree with you that it feels a bit underexposed. Most of that, I think, comes from the water background, which I wish was a bit less "muddy" in color. I do have a bunch of shots against a nice blue sky-reflected water, but not with the wings stretched. Actually, there's one more in my SmugMug album with the wings fully extended straight up, sort of in the classic "art deco" pose. It's a cool shot, but I liked this pose better. I also agree with you that I clipped off the right a bit too much, and I can readily fix that. Thanks for pointing me to the cropping thread here. I'm headed right over to read it.

After spending most of my Christmas day reading the amazing Secrets of Digital Bird Photography site, which I found here, I realized I should be taking more advantage of my 580EX flash, which I had practically abandoned. I just ordered a Better Beamer for it. Maybe more light will help bring out some feather details in birds like this sandpiper (although, in this case, maybe it would throw more of a shadow on the back wing?)

Thanks again, and happy holidays,

Paul