Semipalmated Plover

Gallery: AvianPosted September 5, 201080 views11 comments

Taken at Montrose Beach in Chicago. This is a fairly common shorebird, but for me it was a lifer (this summer I have had 12 lifers so far). Actually this little guy was more difficult to shoot than I had first thought as he stopped for only seconds at a time. I liked the look of this one, although I would have preferred a bit more of a head turn. Critiques welcomed.

Canon 1D Mk3
Canon 600mm | 1.4x TC
ISO 320, 1/2000 @ f/5.6
Av Mode, Eval w/ 0 Comp
LR3.2, levels, NR on BG only, Sharpen, Crop

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on September 5, 2010 at 7:52 PM

Nice capture Bryan. Love all shells and the color of the sand. Nice pose with small head turn toward you. Nice catch light in the eye and feather detail. I would love to see a larger version for even more details. Glad you got one of your lifers. Congrats.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on September 5, 2010 at 8:19 PM

Nice as posted, although I too would appreciate seeing a larger version as well. Nice position; the shadows adds a nice design element.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on September 6, 2010 at 12:39 AM

Looks good to me Bryan, I'm surprised you would need to run nr on the bg at that iso.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on September 6, 2010 at 2:59 AM

I like the low perspective, and slighty raised foot pose. Good job with exposure too Bryan.

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

Comment posted by Ákos Lumnitzer on September 6, 2010 at 4:52 AM

Love the low angle and pose Bryan. Sharp to boot too. Well done mate.

Registered on April 24, 2004, 25 Posts, 510 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on September 6, 2010 at 7:21 AM

I like this Bryan - it really does look as though it's paused briefly mid step

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on September 6, 2010 at 8:41 AM

very nice, Bryan. a nice pose, good looking sand/shell setting, and excellent low angle. as you say, a bit more of a head turn would be perfect, but this is very nice as is.

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

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on September 6, 2010 at 9:23 AM

"I'm surprised you would need to run nr on the bg at that iso."

Nate, This was a pretty large crop, so before cropping it was completely acceptable from a noise level perspective, but once cropped I didn't like the amount of grain showing up. If I would have posted a larger version you could see what I was talking about (Wasn't thinking when I posted it).

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by denise ippolito on September 6, 2010 at 11:28 AM

I like the fresh plumage and the catch light is nice. I might clean up a little bit of the BG. Congrats on the lifer. I agree a bit more head turn would have been nice. Still very nice image quality.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on September 6, 2010 at 2:49 PM

Love this as posted Bryan. Great light and low angle. Well done.

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

Comment posted by Geoffrey Baker on September 6, 2010 at 5:32 PM

A bird with long legs and beautiful eyes, all the guys should love this one

Well captured, the low viewpoint is great.
Well done.

Geoff.

Registered on August 20, 2010, 192 Posts, 980 Comments