American Oystercatcher on the beach

[Bill Dix]

In this cold winter weather it's nice to think back to lying on the Cape May beach in September. A passing jogger persuaded an Oystercatcher pair to conclude that I was the lesser of two evils, so they drifted almost to within my MFD. This is full-frame. Almost no PP except NR, USM and cloning of a few tiny spots.

Wishing everyone a healthy and productive 2012!

D7000, 500f4+1.4, ISO 2000, 1/800s @ f/7.1, +1.0 EV

[Sid Garige]

Nice exposure getting details in both black and white areas Bill. Classic pose and great shooting angle. I added a 8points 81A and bit of saturation to add little more attention to subject. Let me know what you think.

[Bill Dix]

Thank you Sid. Your tweaks definitely helped the plumage and the legs. The orange bill was already so strong that I'm not convinced it needed the extra boost. Curious what others might say. Thanks for taking the time.

[Sid Garige]

The orange bill was already so strong that I'm not convinced it needed the extra boost. Curious what others might say. Thanks for taking the time.

Bill,

You are welcome.

I was on the same boat too after boosting the saturation. I created a layer mask on the bill and toned it down to 50%. :)

[Karl Egressy]

The original is very nice, Bill.
I like the angle HA and the beautiful sandy beach.
I like Sid's version better as it has warmer colours and I always like warmer colours for some reason.

[arash_hazeghi]

great exposure and details Bill, for me the repost is over-saturated. the original has accurate colors so I wouldn't touch it

Excellent High ISO, looks the D7000 handles well.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Somewhere between the two would be good, but what I like about the repost is the semblance of a slightly warming WB. Good pose with the foot up, and I like the clean beach.

BTW, I got my best intentional blur image of 2011 thanks to a jogger...