Killdeer up close

[Andrew Harrell]

There always seem to be some of these guys who run right in front of my truck as I slowly roll down the trail. The usually are running away from the camera, and if I get too close, they fly off. But this one .... instead of running off, he ran past the truck. I backed up. He ran in front of the truck. I went forward. He ran behind the truck. I backed up again. He ran forward again. I went forward a third time. He ran past the truck again, but stopped right beside the window for a moment, and I got this shot .....


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........ then he flew off. I was lucky I got this, while not a perfect (missing lower body) I still thought it decent enough to post and ask for your C&C.

Specs: Sony a77ii, Tamron 150-600, 600mm, f7.1, 1/2000sec at ISO800.

In LR CC: Dropped Highlights -50, Shadows -21, Blacks -17 a touch of Clarity.


Again, appreciate your thoughts.


AP

[Warren Spreng]

I think it is just a great accomplishment to get up close enough to one of these to get a shot!!!! I think this works well as a portrait, nice details and the colors are spot on. I have dozens of these that frequent the park I often go to but I think I need to take a blind over and have a lot of luck for them to come any closer than about 100 feet! I love the eye BTW!

[Diane Miller]

Very nice! What an amazing story of capturing it!

Nice sharpness and detail, and the DOF works for me, as it keeps the BG a little subdued.

I'd soften the two blades of grass running in from left center. It looks like you could select the bird well enough to do some partial opacity cloning to soften the BG a little.

The looking-down view isn't the most desirable, but we take what we're given. Good work with that! I don't mind the crop as it is understandable from the angle, even though the whole bird would have been desirable.

You don't give the focal length, but it would be nice in a situation like this to rotate the camera to portrait orientation to try to get the whole bird.

[Andrew Harrell]

Diane: I've been working on the sharpness issue(s) I've had with some of my earlier posts. Think I'm getting a little better in that regard. Higher shutter speed helps!

As for looking down, yes, you are correct. Every time earlier when I'd try to get out of the truck to get a lower-level shot, the bird would fly off. So I took what I could get ....

Focal Length was 600mm, so I was really close to the bird for this big Tamron lens. And no crop on this one -- this is just how it came out of the camera. I could not get any lower as the bird was so close I was afraid sticking the lens out of the window would spook it. And dropping it lower I would have picked up my window frame of my truck ....

I'll try to work on the background as you suggested -- need to keep working in PS CC so I can get better using the tools there .........

Thanks!

AP

[Adhika Lie]

Andrew, well done on the sharpness. I think you nailed it on this one. True shutter speed helps but it won't help if your lens back or front focuses a lot for example. So I am really glad it works out for you.

I have never come across this bird here but from my experience I learn to crouch far from the bird and squat walk to the bird slowly. That seems to help getting a lower angle. But different people, different techniques. When I look at water bird pictures where they have the birds at eye level, I wonder how they've got into the water? Is it allowed to get into the water in the wildlife refuge and stuff? Sorry, getting off track here and I do not want to hijack this thread.

Anyway, exposure is good to me. Diane gave a very good suggestion about the BG cleanup.

[Diane Miller]

Andrew, your description makes the effort even more heroic!

I think a lot of people position themselves in a spot birds frequent and just wait for the birds to come to them. Some use calls or bait with food. I sometimes try, when I find something when driving, to get out on the passenger side (not easy in today's cars with bucket seats and a center console), have the camera where I can reach it, and sneak around or stand up as slowly as possible. But I can't remember that it has ever worked.

It almost worked once, until a group of birders pulling out of a parking lot on Point Reyes, noticed me crouching behind the rear of the car, obviously pointing a long lens at something, and, after a brief pause, decided to blast past me. My target was the most beautiful CA Quail, sitting on a gloriously rustic fence post in to-die-for light, with a beautiful OOF BG of the perfect color. I almost got the shot -- would have if they had waited 10 seconds. Idiots!!!

[Andrew Harrell]

Adhika, I don't think it is illegal, but they really don't want you trooping around in the underbrush so much. As for getting in the water - no thanks. Very nasty, dirty, dark water, extremely muddy bottom (sink to your waist), all kinds of snags, and of course the ever-present threat of alligators. The sides of the road falls away into ditches/canals that parallel the roadway. It's steep, covered in bushes/mangroves, and really no great way to get low (except directly on the road itself). In this particular location, no boats allowed either, so no way to stalk in that manner either.

I do pop out the door and go for shots -- if the birds are far enough away they will generally hold in place, and I can use the truck to steady my shot. That works. But if the bird is close, many times as soon as I open the door, they flush, or they turn and move away from the camera and you don't get a good profile. Still, I'm going to have to think about that waddle-approach and give it a try ....

Diane, not heroic, just persistent! I lack the patience to sit still for long times; I'm a "hunter". So for me, it's hard to stay on one subject after I have gotten a few shots. I keep wanting to drive on, thinking there may be even better pictures awaiting just down the road, and I have to get there before someone else spook them off ..... This means I don't due things I probably should, like exposure brackets, change angles, adjust aperture/SS on the one subject at hand.

The location I'm shooting right now offers so much variety, and that's also exciting. One moment I'm shooting a GBH, the next moment a small tree frog, the next moment a wild hog, then a small sandpiper, then a spoonbill, then a gator, then BIFs, then a comorant on a perch, then a snake .....

Speaking of snakes, I think I'll have another good one to put of for you tonight that I hope you all will enjoy ...



AP

[Glennie Passier]

Andrew, I think this frame is a wonderful portrait. You were lucky to get him. Good exposure and focus. My only suggestion is as what Diane has already mentioned.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Love this, Andrew! Eye, bill and head... great focal length. I also like how the DOF trails off toward the body. Agree with Diane on what she mentioned. Super sweet image!