Printable View
A late bird in my neck of the woods, this was shot on a very cold and cloudy December morning.
The bird was back lit and I added enough EV compensation to light the bird without blowing the whites on it, thereby blowing all of the color in the calm surface of the Grey / white water.
Nikon D2Xs, 500 AFS II lens, TC14EII, ISO 320, matrix metering, +1.7 EV compensation.
Great high-key image. I like the composition and the calm water makes it special. It almost appears as if the bird sits on something.
It would have been sitting on ice :)
If I remember correctly, this salt panne froze over the following evening.
Awesome reflection for sure! Although minor I wish the reflected portion also had at least a faint catchlight. I could be wrong, but the longish-looking and slightly upturned bill makes it look like a Greater?
Actually, I never even would have thought of that myself.
I had originally thought greater, but the local bird experts pegged this one as a Lesser based on relative size from another image where it was sitting next to a definite Greater.
I'm not totally convinced however.
Yeah, they can be very hard to distinguish...especially when standing alone :-) Whichever one it is, still a beautiful and artistic image.
Beautiful image Jim. Nicely done.
I like the image a ton. The bird however, is a Greater Yellowlegs. If you broke the bill off of this bird and stuck it through the head, it would stick out half again. On lesser, it would barely protrude. In addition, the bill is slightly upturned. The bill of lesser is dead needle straight. You might suggest the local bird experts that they get a hold of a copy of my "Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers" where the above info is covered.
I will pass on the "break off the bill and stick it through the head" ID.
Something tells me birders wouldn't have thought of that :)
It is pretty much explained that way in most ID guides...Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Fenton
