American Oystercatcher

[Herb Houghton]

Here's an adult OC from Nickerson's from late June of this season. The adults would catch sand fleas and return them to the chicks that awaited in the roped off area. Laying in the sand by the slow rollers assured some close activity of them running by with food. Shot taken at 8 a.m. mk IV, 800 f5.6, iso 500, f7.1, 1/1600 shot manual from flattened tripod / wimberley. About 50% crop.

[Stu Bowie]

One of the best well exposed OC Ive seen recently, not to mention the sharpness. I really like the small waves rolling in, together with his catch. A fine image Herb.

[Randy Stout]

Herb:

Very well done, good timing, exposure, sharpness, prey, all good.
Does look like there may be a little sharpening halo around the head and back, possibly an optical illusion from the wave.

In a perfect world, I would wish the back breaker to be clear of his head (above it), but that is about it.

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

Great shot. I like the food in the mouth and the walking pose and the bubbly frothy water. I would rotate this about 1 degree CW. IQ is awesome,
Gail

[Bill Dix]

Well done, Herb. Great exposure, pose, prey, IQ. Tics all the boxes.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Herb, all round an excellent shot...low angle, the pose, surf, prey, exp, details...also liked the angled light. Well composed as well.

[Kurt Bowman]

I like everything about this as posted. I am personally not seeing the halo. Great work and very interesting behavior.

[Arthur Morris]

Ditto all the pluses above. Like the foamy wave by the bird's feet and the raised foot, and of course, the sand crab. The only problem I have is with the merge of the distant breaking wave with the head.....

[Craig Brelsford]

The breaking wave behind the head hardly bothers me at all. This shot, as Bill Dix said, "Ticks all the boxes." Notable are the strong DOF on the oystercatcher, the interesting behavior, the high IQ, and the environmental context. That 800 mm Canon lens is indeed an interesting piece of equipment. Your signature bottom right is blurry.

[Ofer Levy]

Beautiful image! No problem at all with the head and the breaking wave.

[RAM MALLYA]

Lovely catch here , Like the froth below the feet of the bird

[ramesh anantharaman]

What a beautiful image. love the colour rendition and the low andgle and the forward facing pose. The DoF is really good here. well made image.

[Gary Esman]

No critiques here, this is a great shot!

Gary.

[Arthur Morris]

No critiques here, this is a great shot! Gary.

Saying that the image is a great shot is the start of a crtique--please let us know why as we strive to avoid becoming a "great shot" forum.

[Herb Houghton]

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions. :S3:

[Raul Padilla]

great photo, great moment for this sweet sunday in the livingroom take a coffe cup with my dogs

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent pose and details. well done!