Updated:
I tried to find out which sandpiper this is but do not have the best book. I was at Crystal Cove State Park in California and have learned to just sit on the shore and wait for these birds to pass by. This was about 1pm but we had a very hazy sunny day. I was just about laying on the sand to get low.
Type of Critique Requested
- Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
- Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I wonder about composition, does there need to be more room in the front. This was cropped from the lower right and upper right corner keeping the 2:3 ratio
Technical Details
R7 EF 100-400 w/1.4x Extender 560mm 1/1250 f/11 ISO 500
Dean, a smashing shot! Your laying on the sand did the trick, and the background makes this for me,fluffy clouds (I think) which resemble crashing waves. Great! I feel that you could bring out more of the bird’s beautiful colours by selective use of PS Shadows (for example). Also a wee bit of clockwise rotation? Then it would be a 5 Star shot.
This makes my back hurt thinking about the position you were in to get it. Great execution and a wonderful plan to get this guy. They seem to be pretty skittish although with all of the people at Crystal Cove on any given day you’d think they’d be used to people. I love the waves crashing in the background too. Really gives this a sense of place. It seems pretty centered so it couldn’t hurt to add a little bit of space in front for the bird to walk into. As for straightening, the wave line in the background seems straight but the highlighted water line in the foreground seems off a little. It depends on which of those lines you want to use as your straight reference but maybe a little bit of clockwise rotation wouldn’t hurt.
Good morning, This is a beautiful shot! Well worth getting down onto the sand I hope. To be picky, I find the brightness of the wave above takes my eye off the bird so brightening the bird a tad and decreasing the highlights in the surf may be helpful. I love the bubbles at its feet and the sparkle in the sand behind…truly tells me it is a day at the beach!
Thank you for the feedback, @David_Haynes , @Robena.Sirett , and @Mike_Friel. I posted a update with the following updates. I did a very small curve adjustment on the darker areas of the bird. I expanded the left side a little bit for more room, and lowered the highlights in the wave just a bit. I did a slight rotation . This feedback is what I am always looking for.
2 Likes
Lovely! I think your adjustments take this up a notch…sparkle in every level in the background is beautiful and the bird action really stands out.
Dean, the down low position really makes this shot. I like what you did in the updated version.
Hey Dean, this is terrific. I love the low angle. Wonderful. The Merlin app identifies this as a Marbled Godwit. It’s kind of hard to tell with the beak partially buried. But there are similar looking Sandpipers too…Either way, wonderful image.
Thanks for the additional feedback. This really help pave the road for more birds
Hello, Dean, it’s a Marbled Godwit, one of the two Godwits you have in the US (the other being the Hudsonian, but that one you won’t find at the Californian shore. Nice bird, nice image ! Cheers, Hans
(some more info: https://www.hansoverduin.nl/grote-grutto-godwit-grande/)
