Some really nice morning light on this male! Details look good throughout, particularly on the face, and that orange bill knob - maybe a touch bit saturated - really pops against the blue. I birded that location all the time as a Philly
kid - still never shot there - so I know it is really hard to get lower on that jetty. Would be an awesome angle if achievable.
Well captured, venue limits your shooting angle options, but the bird displays well. I agree about trying to open up the blacks just a bit. I don't believe they are truly blocked up, but a little lighter might be a good option.
Love your light here. Great bird.
Every time I see a photograph from Barnegat Jetty, I think that it is such a pity that a photographer cannot get lower.But this still looks great.
Gail
Thank you all. I'll look at reducing the contrast a bit. I didn't want to brighten the image because to me these birds look almost black in real life. Yes, it's tough to get lower at Barnegat. I was sitting on the top of the rocks with my legs dangling into a crevice between boulders. One could lie down on the rocks, but that would make it tough to track BIF. There are a few spots along the jetty where one can clamber down into a crevice to get a bit lower POV, but unfortunately that requires some agility that my aging body has now lost.