American Oystercatcher

[Doug Brown]

I spent a fantastic day on James Shadle's pontoon boat while in Florida. One of my target species was the American Oystercatcher. We found a pair at our first stop of the morning. This one was photographed while I stood in Tampa Bay wearing waders. These Oystercatchers were quite skittish and could fly very fast. I was pleased to get a good flight shot of one.

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/photos/455925858_sg55P-O.jpg

Canon 50D, 700mm, f/6.3, 1/5000, ISO 400, -2/3 EC, no flash, hand held

[Mike Tracy]

I like the wing position, sharpness and position in the frame. I thought their wings were blacker but I don't see them often on the east coast where I frequent so I might stand corrected.

[Bonnie Block]

Great job on this one, Doug. Excellent exposure and sharpness.
We have the all black variety here and they do have a brownish cast to the body plumage.

[Rich Ikerd]

Wonderful capture Doug. Great wing position and the low perspective really gives that intimate feeling, even for a flight image. Nicely done.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great wing position and eye contact. The back looks a bit soft on my monitor and the wings a tad noisy. Was it originally underexposed?

[Doug Brown]

I did very little to adjust the exposure in PP; I pulled some detail from a couple of small dark areas and tamed a couple of hot spots. Overall I was very pleased with the exposure directly out of the camera. Can't explain why the plumage looks soft to you. The near wing and the head are sharp, and they are visually the most important areas of the bird to me. Perhaps those body regions sharpen better in PP than the back feathers do.

[christopher galeski]

good shot,but is the same as Axcels on my monitor,still a good shot.thanks.