New lens

Your exposure and composition look very nice to me here Harry. Are you using spot or evaluative metering and what mode? In terms of composing within the camera I've found that decoupling the focus and shutter and using the AE button on the back of the camera for focus has been very helpful for me in that regard. Congrats on the new lens!

Nate, I used spot metering in the AV mode. I have started practicing using manual mode with spot metering. I think I have to work on the knowledge of when to use what metering to use. I will ask a question in the forum to ask a question on the decoupling the focus from the shutter button.

Thanks Harry. I would not recommend spot metering and Av mode together. The problem is that the spot is too small and when the bird moves the meter will get thrown off, particularly a dark and light bird like a grebe or avocet. You are much, much better off imo using evaluative metering with any program mode such as Av, Tv etc. Using spot metering works better in manual mode imo.

congrats on the new lens, Harry, you are gonna love it. Nate's metering advice is good. For composing in camera, start using those different focus points--if a bird is going to be moving to the left, use a focus point toward the right and keep that on the bird to allow some space in front (or if the bird is stationary, yes, focus with the back button and shoot with the shutter).

I agree with Nate though, that you did fine with both comp and exposure here.

Congrats on the new lens..you'll love it! Nice exposure and pose. I've yet to get a decent image of one of these. Sharon

You certainly ended up with a nice image here. The Avocet is a lovely bird, but I especially like the curved lines on the neck and the bill gracing the top of the water. Nate and Brian have given you some good pointers. But I do use spot metering when I'm shooting mostly white birds. I find it keeps me from overexposing on them. You might increase the whites a little in post processing in this image. I think it will put it over the top.

Congratulations ...on your new lens ...exposure bang on ...well done..

Balan Vinod

Love it Harry.I like the sipping pose. Congrats on the new lens

Harry,
Congrats on the long lense. You have already tapped into one of the situations you will have to learn to overcome when using a long lense. The other is actually trying to pick up the flight of a bird in the view finder. You've done well on the exposure of this avocet, cloud cover being your friend when shooting these. As for the Western Grebes, if you are shooting in full sun the whites can be very, very hot so lots of compensation is generally needed but there are blacks to account for as well. Tough birds to expose for in sunny conditions. Harry, You need to give yur wife a big kiss cause know you have wanted one of these for some time now. Super Congrats.

Congratulations on the lens, Harry. A very nice shot of the Avocet.

Harry, Great to meet you!! What a nice morning we had!
This is a terrific shot. Good exposure, great pose, nice detail and colours.
Maybe just a tad dark - maybe lighten the overall image just a tad?
Enjoy that lens!
Sandy

Hi Harry,

The Avocets here have returned in large numbers the past couple of weeks, so if we get more sunshine (it has been a little dismal here sun wise lately) I hope to be photographing avocets again soon too. Sounds like you had a great time meeting and photographing with Sandy.

I love the pose of your avocet, the graceful, fluid line created by the back, down the neck to the head and the gentle curve of the bill. I especially like the water flowing off of the bill. Your composition feels ok to me but a little more room above the tail might have made for a stronger comp. There are some whites in the section of whites at the upper part of the back that seem a touch bright, I would try to tone those down slightly, but not too much or they will get gray. If you mask those brightest whites then invert the mask you could increase the exposure a little more on the rest of the image. In the larger version I can see the hint of a catchlight, I would try to enhance that because in the smaller version the eye looks a bit flat without a catchlight.

I like your angle, the details and the mood this image conveys.

*edited for a typo

Harry, Love the rump up pose and feeding behavior. I agree with Mia's suggestions but they're minor and you've done nicely here. Hope you enjoy the heck out of that 500! I hope to meet Sandy one day too.