American Golden Plover

Hi Jim, Well, I don't think that you have any problem with sharpness if this is an example. It does seem though that the body of the bird is VERY sharp, while the head is a little less so. I've been forcing myself lately to always remember to focus on the birds eye, which I didn't always do in the past. But you knew that already.

I really like the light, comp and over the shoulder look.

I really like this photo Jim, one of your best to my eye. The grass color really works with the bird. Nice head turn. I agree with Charlie on the focus, just slightly sharper on the back. Lets hope that's where you focused and not a front focus issue as someone previously suggested in your last post.

Jim, I think that the sharpness here looks good. The back may be a bit sharper than the head, but at 5.6, that is probably to be expected if the back was the focal point. I guess one other thing that would be helpful to know for comparison sake is just how much sharpening you applied to the final product. Also, I think that the head actually looks pretty good, and the main fault may not be lack of focus/DOF, but just the difficulty of getting detail in the whites on shorebirds' heads--using the highlight tool might help too.

Small nit has already been mentioned and suggestions given, all of which I agree with. Nevertheless, I find this image extremely nice with good light. I like it a lot as presented.

Very nice HA for over the shoulder pose. The golden feathers are nice to see. I am not a fan of side lighting and think that the shadow on the right side of the bird is not ideal. I like the details and agree that the grass adds some nice interest. Another vote for some selective sharpening to the head.

Terrific! What a great setting here, and terrific pose.

This looks sharp to me, Jim. I like the over-the-shoulder look and the dof you chose.

Jim:
I really like the environment (color and texture) and over-the-shoulder look at the Plover. The head seems slightly out of the plane of maximal focus, but this plover is large and DOF at f5.7 is probably a little small for the bird at this angle. Neat American Golden Plover shot.

I like this as posted, including the side light that adds depth to the image. Sharpness is acceptable overall, with just a bit more DOF needed for the head to be critically sharp as well as the back.

I like this as posted Jim. love your pov on the bird and it's pose.

Pat

Any nittin on this would be pretty nit picky! Ok, maybe one more click of sharpness on the head. Actually, if you look at the blades of grass, you will see exactly where your DOF is in this photo. It looks to me like the focus was on the birds tail, as the DOF seems to fade towards the head. Excellent photo, regardless.

Jim,

This image does look sharper than your recent posts so I think resetting the camera to default and cleaning the contacts was a good thing.

I may have bumped my ISO up some for a touch more shutter speed, then used f7.1 to f8 for aperture to bring the entire bird into the dof. I believe the head isn't quite as sharp as the body because of the dof used. For web presentation I might do just a little more selective sharpening of the head for this image.

I love your low angle and how it makes me feel I am in the bird's world on their level, I also feel like I could be laying on my belly right next to you because of the low angle, and that makes me feel right at "home". The grasses and bird's coloration work marvelous together and the warm side light is just perfect for a bird called "golden" plover.

This is one of your best images imo and I'd be happy with it in my files.

Richard said it best for me and I agree exactly with his comment, esp on the positives of side light. I'd be proud to have this image in my files Jim.