Pied Wagtail

Canon 20D, Canon 500mm f4 & 1.4X extender, 1/400 sec @F5.6, ISO 400,
Raw, Gitzo 1548/B1, Full frame, levels, curves, hue/saturation.


Hi,

One from a couple of weeks ago.
I spotted a group of Pied Wagtails busy feeding around a group of cows.
It must have been quite a spectacle to anyone passing as I was lying flat on the ground and at one stage all the cows completely stopped grazing, gathered around and stood there transfixed on my every movement


All comments always welcome and appreciated.

that's a beauty Justin. Nice low viewpoint and clean background and lovely and sharp.

Matt

Nice image Justin, as Matt says, detail is great as are PoV and BG.

If I was to be super-picky I think its slightly tight at the bottom -'virtual feet' don't have quite enough space under them - they'd be better with the same free space as you have above the head.

But as I said, that's being super-picky

Great close up. Pity the bird is moulting but thats what they do.!
Can't make my mind up about these plain backdrops. They sometimes give the shot a "studio " effect. I do it myself sometimes I know but I reckon some sort of inkling as to whats in the distance can be helpful. Thats the trouble with long lenses these days I suppose. Then again if you do get some detail the back the shot will be deemed "messy" so you can't win !
Cheers
JohnR

Very nice portrait, Justin.
I was doing the same thing in a local park one Spring - lying flat-out, and photographing a crocus with a 500mm lens and extension tubes. When I`d taken my shots, I got up, only to find quite a crowd had gathered round, wondering what this madman was up to, grovelling around in a public park, pointing a large object at a tiny flower. Just one of many such embarrassments, I`m afraid!
Try finding a copy of Michael Leach`s book "Hidden Shallows - Confessions of a Wildlife Photographer" - a hilarious collection of similar embarrassing and humiliating incidents in his own career. I think you have to develop a thick skin with this lark, although sometimes I wish I`d taken up a more sensible hobby - like knitting!

Very nice shot, nice and sharp great BG




Ian

very pleasing portrait, very simple but done exceptionally well

Beautiful detail in the head, and really good POV. Some nice blades of grass as well,

Really nice sharp detailed image.

Cheers Keith.

Gorgeous, as ever Justin, I would however in this case have prefered a touch more DoF, I think you could have gained a stop to f8....

Regarding the plain backdrop. I can apprecite they're not to everyone's taste but I must say I really like them. I took about thirty or so images and a lot of them did have slightly more detail in the background, however out of all of them I think this is one of my favourites as the Wagtail briefly stopped on a raised area of grass allowing the backdrop to go completely diffuse. I really like the way this style completely isolates the bird and focuses sole attention on it and I must say I enjoy the challenge of trying to get a completely out of focus backdrop which I find a bit more of a challenge in some situations, such as this for instance, where it would have been so much easier just to rest the lens on the car's window sill and I wouldn't have had to endure the funny looks from the passers-by and the cows

Try finding a copy of Michael Leach`s book "Hidden Shallows - Confessions of a Wildlife Photographer" - a hilarious collection of similar embarrassing and humiliating incidents in his own career

Sounds like a good read Jeremy. I must remember to have a look for that.

Everyone has his/hers opinion. In my opinion a plain backdrop works best, it keeps the eyes trailed on the subject! So for me: this is a great image, if anything would like slightly less frontal look but that again is a matter of personal taste! Very nice Justin!
Rene de Heer

Cracker of a image.

Very nice capture Justin and thats one gorgeous BG, perfect isolation of the bird

Andy...