Turnstone head on

[@Red_E_Read]

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I would welcome feedback on this photograph taken this morning (15/1/23) just after sunrise off the coast at Shoeburyness (UK).

D500 with Sigma 150-600mm (at max), handheld s 1/800 f6.3 auto-iso 220

Thanks in advance.

 

[topcat]

I like it. It is not great, but it is very good. The only problem is all of the light water. I don't know if it could be darkened a bit.
Maybe crop some of it?

 

[Winston Churchill (Sir)]

I do like the mood a lot. I would have preferred a side profile of some sorts for the bird - but it's my subjective opinion and you can't tell wildlife where to go. Overall I do like it too

 

[jeffnles1]

At ISO 220, you had another stop or so of latitude with the D500 sensor. I think I would have opted for at least 1/1000 or 1/1250 kind of shutter speed. There looks to be a little motion blur in the image.

Overall, I like the image, I like the "golden hour" side light on the birds left eye and flank. I like the gold reflection (sunrise or sunset??) on the water and the dark rocks. Depending on how much you are cropped in, maybe play with widening the crop a little more to show some more of the environment. It may not look good but it is worth playing around with. It is just a personal thing that I tend to like broader environments a little more than close cropped images. However, that is just a personal preference and is neither right nor wrong.

I would say that the ultimate test of the image is if you like it. At the end of the day that is all that really matters.

Jeff

 

[EricBowles]

I love the subject matter and the colors.

Would there have been an opportunity to move to your left to make this photo? In this kind of light, I'd want a completely backlit subject rather than half sunlit and half shadow. That would also make a nicer silhouette. The other thing I'd look for is a clean outline for the bird with no intersections of rocks or other birds behind the subject and overlapping in any way.

 

[Niels.hr.Hansen]

Colors are lovely, and to me its fine with the bird en-face. But I would leave out some more of the environment

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.

 

[@Red_E_Read]

I like it. It is not great, but it is very good. The only problem is all of the light water. I don't know if it could be darkened a bit.
Maybe crop some of it?

Thanks. I’ll take a look at the water. It was shortly after sunrise and I was looking pretty much into it.

 

[@Red_E_Read]

I do like the mood a lot. I would have preferred a side profile of some sorts for the bird - but it's my subjective opinion and you can't tell wildlife where to go. Overall I do like it too

Thank you.

 

[@Red_E_Read]

At ISO 220, you had another stop or so of latitude with the D500 sensor. I think I would have opted for at least 1/1000 or 1/1250 kind of shutter speed. There looks to be a little motion blur in the image.

Overall, I like the image, I like the "golden hour" side light on the birds left eye and flank. I like the gold reflection (sunrise or sunset??) on the water and the dark rocks. Depending on how much you are cropped in, maybe play with widening the crop a little more to show some more of the environment. It may not look good but it is worth playing around with. It is just a personal thing that I tend to like broader environments a little more than close cropped images. However, that is just a personal preference and is neither right nor wrong.

I would say that the ultimate test of the image is if you like it. At the end of the day that is all that really matters.

Jeff

Thanks for your feedback Jeff. It was shortly after sunrise. In terms of cropping, the original had roughly the same amount of space to the left of the image as the Turnstone to the rock on the left (of the image).

 

[@Red_E_Read]

I love the subject matter and the colors.

Would there have been an opportunity to move to your left to make this photo? In this kind of light, I'd want a completely backlit subject rather than half sunlit and half shadow. That would also make a nicer silhouette. The other thing I'd look for is a clean outline for the bird with no intersections of rocks or other birds behind the subject and overlapping in any way.

Potentially there was the ability to move left, however I was quite exposed and I’m pretty sure any movement would have left this image without a bird in it . Take your point about distractions, thanks.

 

[@Red_E_Read]

Colors are lovely, and to me its fine with the bird en-face. But I would leave out some more of the environmentView attachment 54598.

Thank you Niels. Interesting observation if I understand it correctly with a tighter crop, as compared to Jeff S who would prefer more space around the Turnstone. I think this highlights our own style and preferences. Thanks again.