Wilson's Phalarope

Dave, I love that inquisitive look you're getting from the phalarope and really like the effect of your DOF on the grasses. Detail and sharpness look good and the OOF greenery LR isn't significant for me. Very nicely done.

Addendum - I've got to say, after reading your second comment Dave, how much I enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations many of us crazy photographers are willing to endure to get good images. Thanks for the additional details on how you got this shot. Mia is gonna think you're absolutely bonkers for ignoring the alligators, even more than the snakes...

Love the light , the movement of the bird, the wild flower field and the dof. Unfortunate for the oof blob on right front.Oh, and I really love your low angle

I'm diggin' this, David. The environment, color and soft light are all working together.

Excellent, terrific pose and setting on this one. Beautiful muted lighting. Agreed, it would be ideal if the OOF blob weren't there.

The OOF blob is part of my "blind".
I spent two days at St. Marks (one of my most productive photography sites) despite an unfavorable weather forecast. It was very windy and I saw very few warblers. The ducks were gone. So were the Harriers and Hawks. Eagles were active but I didn't get close. Reasonable numbers of shorebirds on the edge of the Gulf, but the water was high when the light was good and the birds were difficult to isolate in the marshy grass. There were lots of shorebirds at the Tower Pool, where I've had terrible luck getting good photos. A great place to watch the birds through a scope or binoculars but very difficult to get close to the birds and light angle is usually a problem. But on the first afternoon I saw two or three pairs of Wilson's Phalarope actively feeding and that motivated me to try to get good shots of them the next morning. I arrived early, decided to ignore alligators and snakes, found a way to get to the edge of the water, set up the tripod in the edge of the grass and waited - for the light to get bright enough to take a photo and for the Phalaropes to appear. And they did. This was the first shot I took as they rounded the grass and reeds I was using for cover. I have a number of shots after they got past the OOF blob, but the pair stuck together like glue and I had trouble getting both of them in focus. This is one of the two shots where I can crop and isolate the in focus bird. The early morning light was just breaking through the overcast clouds when the Phalaropes appeared.

I love this as presented. ?It is always fun to find these birds out of the water like this.

Beautiful image. The lighting is so nice and the pose and comp. are fantastic.

quite nice, David, I like the soft light and the pose you got. I've only seen Wilson's Phalarope out of the water once--it threw me off a bit and took me a minute to realize what I was looking at. I agree with Ron, it's great to hear the great lengths (and travails) involved in getting a shot.

Oh man, do I like this shot David. What a background. It matches the throat on the bird. Love the low angle, and the catch light in his eye. Super sharp. Beautiful capture David.

Dave-I greatly admire your approach towards photography. Why allow minor irritants such as gators and snakes thwart a perfectly good opportunity to capture a great image. Well done!

Love the pose of the bird David as well as your composition

cheers
Rob

No nits here David - very nicely done!

I have so seldom seen one of these out of the water and this makes this shot so much more appealing to me! I have to admit, I didn't notice the oof blob until I read about it in the discussion. You had an interesting set-up but it didn't interfere with my pleasure in the photo itself.

No nits from me - fabulous setting and angle of shot.

Dave,

I love this image, every thing works well together. Your angle, the light, the pose of the bird and the great setting too.

I can tell you why Ron mentioned I'd think you were bonkers for ignoring the alligators, when I lived in FL I was very careful around fresh water because you can not always see the gators in the water. One day though I was on the shoreline of a fresh water pond, I was very absorbed in whatever I was photographing and wasn't paying attention to my surroundings until I heard a noise about 10 feet from me on my left. The sound was created by a gator about 8 foot long slipping into the water and because of the tall grasses on the water's edge, I had not seen it. I then became even mmore cuatious around freshwater. Be careful!