Red Knot and Dunlin at Rest

[Jim Fenton]

It was cold this morning when I arrived on the beach at sunrise...a balmy 38 degrees with a 20 mph wind out of the north west.

The tide had just started to recede and while I hadn't planned on getting wet, the beach topography changed since I was there a few weeks back so in the water I went....long underwear, gloves and all :)

Unfortunately, the tide wasn't fallen as fast as I would have liked, so it wasn't until 8:15 or so that the birds started setting up as I had envisioned.

These two presented an interesting compositional situation. I had crawled my way in among a couple thousand shorebirds and simply couldn't get any further left so that I could pick up the full body of the red knot.

These were at very close range so I stopped down to f 25 to great the greatest DOF I dared work with.

Nikon D300s, 600VR, TC14EII (didn't dare move to take it off), ISO640, f25, 1/200, NearUniWB preset, CW metering, +.3EV applied.

[Marina Scarr]

Well your hard work under less than fun conditions paid off, Jim. I love this capture. I love that both birds have the same pose and catchlight. Although they have the same pose, you can distinctly see their differences. I love the small ripples of sand under them almost giving the viewer a sense of motion. Your EXP looks spot on. Both birds are sharp and the details in the feathers are great. Don't blame you for not wanting to take off your TC. I think the comp here works. The only thing I would suggest in terms of printing would be to remove the brown spot to the viewer's right of the Knot.

You have another winner here.

Marina

[Daniel Cadieux]

Great fieldcraft, great in-camera technique, and great result. Both eyes open! An awesome comparision image. Although not blown or clipped, I would still tone down the whitest whites.

[Jim Fenton]

There were a umber of images with closed eyes on both or one....I took 11 frames one at a time and managed this one.

When I look at the whites on my wife's laptop they look pretty hot.

On my NEC monitor, they don't.

I will give it a shot and see if it looks any better tomorrow.

[Aidan Briggs]

The whites look bright but not blown on my monitor. Great low angle, DOF coverage, and head angles! Techs are pretty much perfect as well.

Well Done!!

[Jeff Dyck]

Great shot Jim - just love the mirrored postures. The whites look OK my monitor...

[Rene Quenneville]

You displayed great skills on this one. Going to f/25 is not an every day thing in bird photography. You managed to keep both birds in focus. great picture! The ripples on the water add to the comp.

[Randy Stout]

Jim:
Love the symmetry, sharpness, surroundings.

Well, there are a few hot spots on the flanks on my monitor. They are probably not burnt, but it might present a bit better with a little toning down there.

I thought the image a bit bright overall, and tried a version with a multiply selection on a mask, and liked it. I must admit however, that my personal tastes run to slightly darker than average images, so take this with a grain or two of salt!

Very nice overall.

Cheers

Randy

PS: On the wood duck comment you made about them being tame in the midwest. It is very regional! My local ones behave just like yours! Have to hit the right spot.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Whites look fine to me. Love the poses. Well seen and taken. :)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

This is terrific Jim. The symmetry is awesome and the DOF too. f/25 is something we dont see too often on this forum :-) way to go...

[Myer Bornstein]

Jim
Very nice image, the whites are not hot on my monitor. BTW were you out at the tip?

[Jim Fenton]

Hy Myer...

These were shot just past the groin on the flats there.