Least Sandpiper - Juvenile Plumage.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This beautiful, freshly plumaged, and quite reddish individual was in search of tiny tidbits to feed on. That's pretty much the bulk of what they do!

Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1250s., f/5.6, ISO 1600, natural light, handheld, small crop for comp, added cyans to the vegetation as they were rendered too yellow in-camera.

[John Rowell]

High key images tend to be favorites of mine and this one is just over the top. The low shooting angle, the smooth light on the perfectly exposed sandpiper balanced on one foot and balanced in the overall image with the slightly oof grass. The bird's bill is separated from the feet and you can just imagine the slightly rolling gait with the offset of the wings and tail. Wow, I'd give this one a 10 any day.

[gail bisson]

This is lovely Daniel. I love how the grasses balance the sandpiper.
Love the low POV and the soft diffuse light.
If mine, I would add a point of black to the neutrals in selective coloring.
Truly lovely image!
Gail
PS Thanks for all your helpful critiques over the years.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the bird -- of course -- and the grasses and the soft light and the wing stretch and the narrow d-o-f. In a perfect world the juvie would have moved two inches to it's right :)

with love, artie

[John Mack]

Neat pose on the bird. The high key treatment works very well here. Those grasses give the image some nice balance.

[Bill Dix]

Lovely. Great dynamic pose, your signature POV. The delicacy of the grasses puts this one over the top.

[Dorian Anderson]

Super image, mostly made possible by the awesome and well-earned low angle. Grass is the perfect touch of color/

[William Dickson]

Looking fab Dan. What a difference the grasses add to the image. Great detail and contrast on the bird. Love that pose & POV.

Will