Black-necked Stilt - 3

Another image of a black-necked stilt. This time it is one of a feeding adult from earlier last summer. The sun was behind the stilt which made getting both the blacks and whites properly, a little difficult. But I was happy to capture this feeding pose with the eye out, and its colorful legs. Would love to hear what you think.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Any/all. Would like hear if this blacks and whites look OK.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any/all. Is the bird too low in the frame?

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
840mm, 1/400s@F8, ISO500, Full frame, resized and processed for the web.

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Nice feeding pose. I think the blacks/whites turned out fairly well. I like the warm glow in the background and the color of the water contrasting well with the red legs. I could see cloning out some of the white spots in the water, particularly the one behind the leg. Overall, a very nice composition.

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This is a very nice feeding pose. I like the way his tail feathers are pointing upward, and his head is downward, giving a nice angle. The blacks and whites look pretty good, I think.

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Beautiful photo. I love everything about it, except the one bright spot behind leg.

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Neat pose and good work keeping the blacks and whites in check. I would like to see a little more room in the bottom of the frame, but I’m fine with the image as posted-nice work.

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I like the clean contrast between subject and background. To answer you question, I think you did fine with the blacks/whites. I would agree with a little cleanup but it’s not a deal breaker. It’s a nice image.

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Very nice pose, Govind. I like the background a lot. If you don’t mind a bit of background creation, I think the bird could move a little left in the frame (not very much). The whites in the shadows feel just a touch too blue to me, but that might partly be the feathers tat are extending over the darker plumage creating an illusion (but then, isn’t a photograph all n illusion? ).

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Really like the pose with the eye just out of the water. Agree with Dennis about moving the bird a little left but this is a very fine image as is.

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Thank you all for your feedback. Now that you have mentioned it, I see the bright spot behind the avocet as a distraction.

@Dennis_Plank, @Allen_Sparks: Thanks for the feedback about the framing. I had cropped this image a little bit to position the stilt a little to the left of the frame in my original composition. But I felt it was already on the left side in the uncropped version and left it at that. Dennis, I think the blue cast in the shadow are likely an illusion as a result of the blacks behind part of them, the lighting and reflection of the sky in the water. The levels didn’t seem too high, but I will play around with them to see if I can bring them down.

Very nice image. The blacks and whites look good to me. I do wish there was more room on the bottom for the reflection and his beak. The bright spot behind the leg doesn’t really bother me.