Masked Lapwings, or (more commonly called in Australia), Plovers. They are quite a common bird, mostly in pairs and they spend a good deal of time on the ground. These birds are notorious for defending their nesting sites by diving on intruders. They have a spur on each wing at the wrist that can cause quite an injury.
The parents of this baby were not in the least concerned for his/her safety whilst he was looking for his breakfast in a tannin-stained beach lagoon.
Specific Feedback Requested
I have many frames of this little guy without the quizzical look. I’m not a huge fan of a bird walking away from, so I hope the head turn makes up for that.
Any criticism or comments are welcomed.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
f5.6 1/1250s ISO400 100-400@400mm
Processed in ACR for basic adjustments and taken into PS. A little canvas added to the RHS and some cropped off the LHS. A graduated burn from the bottom edge was applied to help ground the image and to hopefully dull down the reflection.
I think this is a lovely image. All the techs are great and of course the reflection adds to the image. My first reaction to the image was I that I wanted more room on the left and I noted that you cropped some off the LHS. Just wondering if there was something there that was troublesome.
Always nice to see a new species. I like the pose with the quizzical look and the raised leg. I’m okay with the crop, as the bird seems to be looking more towards you than towards the left side. Good job with the processing.
He gave you a great look, with the quizzical head angle helped by the shape of the mask and the raised foot. Excellent detail and perfect BG/environment colors for the bird. I think the burn from the bottom was a good idea nicely done. No nits!
Thanks Keith. The image was taken in vertical format. Nothing really troublesome there at all, just an extra bit of the log. But looking at it again, I think keeping that sliced off side might have been a good idea. I’ll do a rework with the side added back in.
