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.
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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.
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.
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?
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