Black-necked Stilt at Harns

[Bob Pelkey]

94826

This Black-necked Stilt is one of thirteen I had been observing this past month
at Harns Marsh Preserve. Flight photography of this species I've found extremely
challenging to document as the birds will wade over a long distance and there is
no telling when they will "blast off."

Typical observation technique was made with a radical change by using the 5dm2.
It took me quite a few shots to re-acquaint myself with the characteristics of the
camera compared to the mark3.

I darkened pixels to eliminate a highlight on the tip of the stilt's bill.

The local time was an hour later than the exif data shows. The light on the bird is
natural and was seen about forty minutes after sunrise on a clear day.

Black-necked Stilt at Harns Marsh Preserve
Lehigh Acres, Florida USA

Canon EOS 5D Mark II (http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon/eos_5d_mark_ii) ,Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM (http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon/ef_600_4is)
1/1250s f/5.6 at 840.0mm iso400
<table width="450" align="center" border="1" cellpadding="1"><tbody><tr><td class="sb" colspan="2">Full EXIF Info</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Date/Time</td><td class="lid">03-Jun-2011 06:15:52</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Make</td><td class="lid">Canon</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Model</td><td class="lid">Canon EOS 5D Mark II</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Flash Used</td><td class="lid">No</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Focal Length</td><td class="lid">840 mm</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Exposure Time</td><td class="lid">1/1250 sec</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Aperture</td><td class="lid">f/5.6</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">ISO Equivalent</td><td class="lid">400</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Exposure Bias</td><td class="lid">+1/3</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">White Balance</td><td class="lid">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Metering Mode</td><td class="lid">matrix (5)</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">JPEG Quality</td><td class="lid">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Exposure Program</td><td class="lid">aperture priority (3)</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Focus Distance</td><td class="lid">19 m</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Ofer Levy]

Lovely light, colours and BG. However, critical focus seems to be on the wing leaving the head quite soft.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Love the BG. Exp looks good on the wings but the whites on the chest are a bit hot. Head looks soft, focus looks like it was on the bottom wing....Great light though...TFS Bob

[Doug Brown]

The light is sweet and the BG is to die for. I agree with Ofer about the point of maximum focus and with Dumay about the whites on the chest.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Bob, some very good critiques above. Absolutely loved the BG. It'd have been better to stop down a bit( i usually do that to cover for critical focus issue) and use higher ISO...but hindsight is always 20-20...something to try next time.

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely light and killer BG, Bob. This bird just shines on that BG. The head does look soft and it's too bad that it is slightly angled away from you.

Glad to see you are using the Canon 5D2 for some bird photography.