American Golden Plover

Gallery: AvianPosted March 27, 2010163 views16 comments

Olympus E-3, 300mm x 2.0TC, tripod
f7.1, 1/320, ISO200

Eagle Summit, Steese Highway, Alaska; July 2009.

I posted a different version of this back in August, with fewer grass stalks but a bit of a body turn away from the camera. Uncropped. Usual sharpening drill. I'm curious what you think of the strands of grass across the body.

C & C, please.

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on March 27, 2010 at 11:51 PM

Excellent colors on this golden plover - sharpness and detail are all there

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 28, 2010 at 12:19 AM

Jim, this is a beautiful shot. great colors in the bird, great bg, nice head turn and detail. I wouldn't complain if those two grass stalks were missing, but don't see them as much of a nit.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 28, 2010 at 12:21 AM

What strands across the body?

My eye goes directly to the head of the plover here, and I only see the strands when I start to survey the rest of the image. I would be thrilled to have a shot this nice of this species, and it such wonderful dress (I'm used to seeing them as rare migrants in New Jersey, and extremely rare migrants here in AZ).

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 28, 2010 at 8:03 AM

great colors and sharpness on this one Jim. I don't mind the grass. Overall I really like the habitat in this image along with the nice light.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on March 28, 2010 at 9:35 AM

Gorgeous photo and I think the grasses add to the photo(even the ones across the body). You got plenty of the bird to make this a keeper.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on March 28, 2010 at 9:44 AM

The grass strands don't bother me Jim. This is fabulous. The sharpness, detail and light not to mention the foliage and smooth bg.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on March 28, 2010 at 9:53 AM

Outstanding Jim. They will soon pass through here and I would be thrilled to get such a shot.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on March 28, 2010 at 11:02 AM

Great color and feather detail. He peeked out perfectly for you

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on March 28, 2010 at 1:00 PM

Jim,
perfect background, great pose and detail. I really like the inclusion of habitat too.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on March 28, 2010 at 2:25 PM

Nice pose, habitat and background. I don't mind the stems in front.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Giorgio Gregori on March 28, 2010 at 4:17 PM

Very nice portrait.I like the grass across body cause help to describe the environment and don't disturbe the image of the subject IMO.
Giorgio

Registered on November 16, 2007, 87 Posts, 793 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on March 28, 2010 at 5:30 PM

Jim,

I don't often get to say "this is my favorite image of yours" twice in one day but I am saying for the second time this afternoon.

This is my favorite image of yours. Grasses across the body don't bother me at all, in fact they delight me because you left them there and it shows this gorgeous bird's natural habitat. I would love to have an image this fine of a golden plover in my files. Wow!

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on March 29, 2010 at 11:53 AM

Very nice Jim, everything comes together on this one, I really like the position of the bird in relation to the ground, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Roy Bailey on March 29, 2010 at 3:41 PM

Realy like this.Great bird, beautiful colours, grass across the bird dosnt bother me at all.Perfect head turn and good to catch him on that raised spot to give even background colour.

Registered on November 16, 2008, 24 Posts, 486 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on March 29, 2010 at 4:54 PM

Really nice shot, very sharp with excellent detail and colours. Usually I might have been tempted to get rid of the grass across his body but it looks so natural I like it as it is. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on March 30, 2010 at 8:01 AM

This is simply beautiful Jim. The colors and head turn of the bird couldn't be better and I love the setting. Nice composition and I like the clean far background. Excellent!

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments