Interesting Pose

[Bill Holsten]

This male Avocet was considering flight, but changed his mind and settled back down. I was fortunate to get the wings fully extended. Photographed this AM at San Elijo Lagoon in north San Diego county.

1D MK IV, 300mm+2X, ISO 400, 1/1000", f/10, tripod

C&C welcome.

Bill

[Tony Whitehead]

Well done to catch the full stretch, Bill. Aperture choice has kept the whole bird sharp and I like the gentle ripples on the water. Might be worth trying a version with the dark area of the water in the BG lightened. Whites well handled.

[Morkel Erasmus]

great pose and exposure here Bill
it doesn't seem as sharp on the head as it could be? perhaps another round of slight sharpening applied there?

[dankearl]

It is a cool pose and I would also do just a bit more sharpening on the head.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great pose and colours.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice pose and BG, looks like the critical focus was on the wing as the head appears a bit soft

[Bill Holsten]

I focused on the head, which was in the same approximate focal plane as the legs and body when focus was achieved and that was when I pulled the trigger to fire a short burst. During that burst, the Avocet raised his wings in the plane on which I was focused and thrust his head forward out of the focal plane. Thus wings in focus, head a bit soft. In this repost, I have further sharpened the head and neck and cloned out the dark horizontal band behind the bird.

Thanks to all for the good advice,
Bill

[Yves Guillot]

Original pose for sure! I like it!