Since shorebirds seem to have been featured lately, I thought I’d re-post this from the old NPN site of 6 years ago. It’s one of my favorites. The comments back then suggested work on the waves in the background, but unfortunately it is what it is. I did crop the top a bit from my previous post to decrease the whiteness.
What technical feedback would you like if any? Any
What artistic feedback would you like if any? Any
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Canon 7D; 100-400 at 360 mm; 1/640 at f6.3; ISO 100
Hup, two, three, four, All this needs is the drill sergeant! Wonderful group shot. I’m surprised you got such great depth of field at f6.3. The only suggestion I might have would be to bring the bright background down just a bit.
Very nice, Allen. I had thought the same thing, how did you get such DOF at f6.3, and then I read Skips comments. Well done. I also agree, add the drill sergeant and tone down the background just a bit! Okay, so maybe not the drill sergeant. 
WOW. I like this and I like this A LOT, Allen. Their bills are parallel and all their head angles are pleasing. I am actually fine with the waves in the BG. They are slightly hot but not distracting. I see some chromatic aberration on the birds that should be an easy fix. This is a good candidate to use something like the AI Clear to sharpen the birds a little without raising the noise.
Allen, this so cool! I’ve seen Godwits in numbers on occasion, but prancing along in formation like this is a first. Reminds me of the Flamingo parades, but on a much smaller scale. Tough lighting, but the high key surroundings set the birds off nicely. Fun stuff!
Excellent grouping of these Godwits. The matching beak and leg positions are just perfect. I’ve never seen behavior like this but it is quite photogenic
