Ringed plover and REPOST

Another from my recent trip to Shetland, this time a ringed plover on a little bit of sunlit sand in a sea of seaweed. I was dressed like a dipstick in a drysuit but it kept me warm, dry and moved me a little further along the road toward looking like a seal!
Though it looks like the image is vignetted it's all natural and, I assume, is because I was exposing for the whites on the sunlit bird and everything else fell into under exposure. I would have preferred a less central position for the bird but I can't crop it as I like the effect of the blue sand being surrounded.
Nikon D3S, 600mm lens, ISO 400, always maual exposure in these kind of situations. C&C's always welcome

I love the 'peek a boo' composition, where you feel you are looking into the image through the OOF foreground. I would have liked the bird a tad over to the right but on the ground these things don't always happen as we wish.Lighting and POV has made the image for me and maybe this was your motovation for taking the image,?? I would be interested in your thoughts on this Andy. Cracking shot

Have to agree with Craig that the light and POV are splendid and the "see-through" effect does make this original. Would have preferred it without the bright orange spot behind the bird but i guess a bit of work in Photoshop would make that dissapear in no time..

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

Hi both and thanks for taking the time to comment. Craig - this was one of those situations where I was working pretty fast as I had birds all around me and so it was a case of trying to work out which bird, and which speies offered the best possibilities. With small waders I'll always want to work at ground level and in this situation it helped bring the birds in closer as I just blended in with the seaweed.
One of the things that I wanted to do was to try and show the bird, lit by evening light, in a sea of seaweed as I knew that the contrasting exposure reuirements might make for some interesting images.
Hey Jeroen - I'm always grateful for your feedback and whilst I completely understand and appreciate your comment re. the orange bit it's just one distraction that I'm happy to live with.

Cheers

Andy

Hi Andy

I agree with the comments above and would emphasize that it is a highly original image of this subject which works to great effect.

Cheers,
Chris

I love this kind of shot - very artistic indeed! I agree about the bird being a bit more to the right and I think you would get away with cropping to near the edge of the blue water. Great shot.

Nice indeed !
I agree about the cropping and maybe a tiny bit rotation left but that,s minor. Interesting image.
John R

I also agree about the crop, but otherwise a great, and unusual, image.

David

Really effective and different. I like the 'spotlight' effect and although I would agree that the bird is quite central, I don't think it detracts from the image

Very refreshing for me.
I'm with the rotation and then leave everything else as it is.



Calum

lovely image, great composition and lighting, well visualised

A beautiful image Andrew


Very minor nits already covered

A great image and very original
Well done.

Geoff.

Refreshingly original.

I Like, just that touch of rotation.... a superbly seen and executed image.

Andrew

Well seen and recorded this image is in a class ofits own.

All works for me. Top shot


Simon

The only negative for me is the OoF orange bit of the BG Andy - it's just a bit of an 'eye-grabber' for me

Other than that is a cracking image overall imho, but not in the same league as your previous post - which was awesome.

Another good image Andy might have to give the drysuit a go

Very minor nits covered an insperational image Andy.

David

Hello Andrew.

Great idea and you have pulled it of very nicely for most as the comments are mostly really posative But I have come back to this image a few times now as my eyes just cant settle and think that really works. I dont think the rotation idea is needed as its just the background moving further away giving the water this effect. I do think I would do something about the bright orange area behind the tail. I know you dont like to alter your images but I do feel from a picture point of view it just does'nt belong in the image. I think after looking at this for some time its just the dark area on the left is a bit to much and unsettles the image for me. But saying that it might not look this way when seen much larger, as some images do seem to suffer at the size we post on here.

Well thats probably the longest comment I've done.

Hi all

I've made the image rotation that several suggested in their comments but unfortunately I'm too stupid to work out how to repost it. Any help would be fab!

Andy

Hi Guy: Must have been writing my comment while you were writing yours. I've made the rotation as suggested by some as I do think that it was out. As for the orange thing I do know exactly what you mean as it bugs me but then I also quite like the fact that I couldn't get rid of it even if I wanted to, I don't know how to do it. Blissfully ignorant I guess!

Incredible feeling of intimacy in the shot. Well thought it out indeed

Minor nits covered. Wonderful image.

Probably a bit late to repost this but what the hey! Those who pointed it out were definitely right about the rotation so many thanks.