AVOCETS

[gary ellwein]

D7000, Nikkor 600mm, f6.3, 1/1600, iso 400, manual mode, tripod, subject at 25 meters, cloudy, strong 30+ mph wind. Mid afternoon I found a flock of 25 - 30 avocets hunkered down behind a bank of willows. Using the willows as cover, I was able to get within 20 meters of the flock and work them for over two hours. The birds were inactive with alot of nap time on their part. After getting a number of individual shots, I focused on getting multiple birds in an image. PP was minimal with a small color balance adj. and selective sharpening. The crop was approximately 50%. I experimented with multiple crop options. Although, there is alot of room on the bottom and the reflections are not sharp, I like this one. The image reflects the soft light caused by clouds and dust. All sharing this patch of real estate were happy to be out of the wind. C & C appreciated.


Gary

[Davidwilliams]

I really like this image, soft light and focus all work well, maybe cropping the reflection detracts slightly ?

[christopher galeski]

Beautiful image,like thecrop,nice soft lighting,good detail in the bird in focus.well done.

[PhilCook]

Soft lighting is a perfect match fro the sleepy nature of the bird, very nice and moody, not sure, but I wonder if the slight reflections in the water add or detract from the image, I think personally you could crop off the bottom to just above the blurred reflection and still have a great composition and all attention is then on the main subject

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Gary, they really do look sleepy! I like the muted colors and soft overall look of the image. Very tranquil scene. I agree with Phil on the crop, the reflections are not adding much to the composition and I don't think they are strong enough to have included more of them. Nice work, sounds like a good day in the field.

[P-A. Fortin]

I really love the similar pose of the out of focus bird. I like the image "as is" but have to agree with others on cropping off the bottom part. Would make a much more interesting image indeed. Good exposure as well. Good work.

[Cathy McEntee]

Beautiful! Love the mood of the scene--very soft and tranquil.

[gary ellwein]

By popular demand, the recrop. I'll post a few more from this shoot later this week.


Gary

[Doug Zoern]

I do like the re-crop. It would also be interesting to have the full reflection of the front bird in the original posting if you got it. Then you might want to trim a little off the top too.
In the original post I would like more separation between the birds. Not always easy to change the angle that little bit. With the size and shape of the re-post this isn't an issue for me.