Least sandpiper at the water's edge...

This juvenile least sandpiper was photographed during fall migration a few years back. It was tricky to get low enough to achieve this shooting angle without slipping off the breakwater rocks into some very deep water....The up side, is that I made some unique shorebird images that have special water movement in them. In this image, you can see the water cover and move up the rock behind the peep....unique look imo. The peeps would work the lower rocks of the breakwater, as with each successive wave, a new batch of food would arrive and the feeding would begin. They were quite adept at gripping the rocks at odd angles....far more adept that this fat old man was :S3: Minolta5d, Tokina80-400, iso400, 1/500, f9, selective NR to much of the water, selective USM to the subject. Comments and critiques welcome.Regards,
Shawn Zierman.

Lovely shot Like the silky OOF texture with the movement of the water. The birds pretty good too !!! Did you use fill flash on this ?
Cheers
John

Definitely worth the effort to get the low angle. I might have tried to tone down just a tiny little bit the oof rock at the LLC, but that's a very minor issue to me. I just love the image as it is.

nice capture,love thecolor of the water,nice pose and POV.good detail.

Yes Shawn, another fine image. The bird looks great, and that flow of water makes the image come 'alive'.

Beautiful shot! Love the pose, light and texture! The subject is really sharp! Well done!

Super light and wonderful exposure
i like the deep blue sets up the bird nicely

I like the rich light quality and appealing colours. Pose looks good too with the angled legs. I'd personally get rid of the specular highlight near the nostril, but all else looks excellent.

Very nice Shawn. Love the sharp bird against the dark blue water and the nice profile pose. All looks good to me. Might consider removing one of the catchlights in the eye. Well done

Thanks folks...Robbo...can I call you that, now that you called yourself that? :) ....No flash. Double catchlight is natural. Dan...good suggestion, would not have occurred to me, but I see it now...

Hi Shawn, love the angled fishing pose, and the water running over the 'perch' at the 45 deg angle looks great. The Sandpiper is sharp, lots of detail showing, and pops nicely against the rich blue of the water.

Lovely catch! Reminds me that I need to get a good climbing rope... Being anchored to something would be a nice feeling sometimes.

The contrast seems a bit high to me -- maybe lighten the darks just a little?

Nice picture in unique environment, Shawn. I also liked the story behind the shooting.