Nesting Killdeer

[Brian Sump]

186680

This one is amongst a few that nest on an island I like to shoot at. Presumably it's a female incubating as there were others and some hatchlings roaming more freely (baby posted soon).

I chose this crop because it best represents how I remember it tucked down seemingly to hide from predators.

D850
600mm + TC-14e
HH
ISO 1000
1/3200
f5.6

Contrast, shadows, highlights and mild sharpen in C1P. Cleaned up a bit of bkg and foreground and small part of bird in PS and final sharpen only 25/.3.

[David Roach]

Love the intimate POV and you handled the slightly bright light real well. Love the buds and the rock for balance. A sweet motherhood canvas, for sure. TFS

[Dorian Anderson]

Yeah, the light was a bit higher than ideal, but the image still works well. I would bump the saturation a bit to try to get a bit more color, specifically in the greens. But that's me since color
saturation is kinda my thing.

[John Mack]

The low angle and framing are right on. Nice catchlight in the eye. I have only seen them nest on gravel here.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Looks good. Low angle is excellent. Awesome vegetation and the flowers surrounding the scene are bonus. You waited for the perfect head turn to trip the shutter.