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Avocet searches for food
Avocet searches for food
sfalice


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study XII (Advanced Editing IV*)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Lens: Sigma 50-500mm f/4.0-6.3 EX APO RF HSM for Canon
Location: palo alto baylands
Date: Aug 13, 2006
Aperture: 6.3
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/500
Galleries: Nature, Animals
Date Uploaded: Aug 25, 2006

 crop, curves, some selective sharpening, a little dodge & burn. Resize at 700 pixels on the long side

Avocets fish by sweeping their long bills from side to side, disturbing the water. It took many shots to stop the action on this lovely fan of water he produced.

I sent this PM to several commenters who misunderstood the fan of water produced by the Avocet. I reproduce it here in case others are puzzled by the action pictured:
Avocets have very long bills. They sweep them side to side,disturbing the water, trying to find tidbits to eat. May be fish, or tiny marine life. It's quite difficult to get a composition where the water is disturbed in a pleasing pattern. Actually, it's not particularly easy to find them feeding at all as they tend to be well out on the flats. Very low tide does the trick and a thin film of water is essential as is a long lens. That was the occasion here.


Statistics
Place: 515 out of 684
Avg (all users): 5.1571
Avg (commenters): 5.6000
Avg (participants): 5.0780
Avg (non-participants): 5.4464
Views since voting: 983
Views during voting: 349
Votes: 261
Comments: 11
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 09/12/2006 08:58:22 PM
Critique Club Review:

I took me a bit, and a read of your comments to figure out what was going on. I was guessing part of an old glass bowl, or remnants of a jellyfish. Had there been a bit of motion blur, it would have been easier to understand what was going on. Makes for a very interesting photo though.

Focus and depth of field are very good. The bird is nice and sharp, and the softness in the foreground and background, do a good job of focusing the attention on the subject. Exposure, color, and contrast are done well. You have managed to keep the detail in the white feathers of the bird, with out looking grey or dingy. I really like that you got down to the bird's level for this shot. All too often cameras never leave the eye level of their owners.

With the spray of water in front of the bird, with such a static capture, it hides the bird a bit, and may be why you lost some points. Perhaps a different angle, or a bit of a motion blur, would better tell the story. As is, it is still a pleasing photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/07/2006 05:07:40 PM
Very cool capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2006 11:57:21 AM
Very nice action shot. Great Capture. Just needs to bump the colour up more for extra POP!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/06/2006 04:03:50 PM
cool feeding avocet.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/03/2006 05:46:57 AM
That dead jellyfish / bag / whatever really takes away from this image. A great capture nonetheless. Looks like you had the big gun out. Thanks for sharing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2006 04:55:14 PM
wow. great sharpness. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2006 09:23:06 AM
While you did a good jopb at stopping the water it covers much of the head and looks strange to me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2006 06:30:51 AM
Good DOF but i can't tell what it is resting it's head on. It's head is a little dark, maybe you could of dodged that to make it clearer.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2006 04:48:23 AM
Nice action shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/01/2006 04:18:48 PM
Pretty bird and interesting reflections. I can't see his face to 'connect' with him, so I wish I knew what it is that he has his head stuck in. Is it a washed up fish?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2006 08:43:06 PM
wow, that looks so different and interesting...love the still water against what the bird is doing with the water
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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