Shorebird portrait: juvenile Black-bellied Plover.

I made a few good poratrait close-ups of shorebirds this fall, here is the first - a Black-bellied Plover. This young individual was very cooperative and allowed me to take a number of portraits with varying BGs (brown, blue, combo of both). It had been feeding before and the mud was sun-baked on his bill (wish it was clean, but sometimes you jump on such opportunities!!)

Funny story behind this picture:). I was with fellow BPN member Stephen Stephen when we spotted this guy from a good ways away. From our experience we expected this guy to flush from way too far away. Since Stephen had nothing in his files from this species and I already had some photos from previous encounters I decided to make a big circle around the bird, get low, and slowly crawl towards it in the hopes of slowly pushing it towards a waiting Stephen (who was about 50 ft from the plover). I crawled a few feet, took a picture or two, crawled again, more pictures, each time expecting it to start moving, until 10 minutes later I was within my lens' 6ft MFD...the plover having not flinched a single muscle...and Stephen still waiting 50ft away and looking discouraged at my luck:p!! I waved him over and we both got incredible close-ups of this beautiful bird.

Canon 40D + 100-400L @400mm, aperture priority, evaluative metering, 1/500s., f/8, ISO 400, +0.3 EC, natural light, handheld, FF.

The low angle gives this portrait a real sense of intimacy. Sharp where it needs to be. I like the muddy bill and the complimentary BG color. Head angle is perfect. And a great story about fieldcraft to boot!

Daniel:

Great story, complimentary colors, great eye,excellent exposure. Did you have to do any work on the eye?

I know that you couldn't have gotten the entire bird in the DOF, but since he was so cooperative, might have been fun to shoot at few at f/16 to see how it went. Might have gained 1/2" or so of DOF.

Cheers

Randy

Great job Daniel! Love the warm BG! really good HA also. These young plovers seem to be very cooperative in the west also, I crawled up on a group of shorebirds last week and the young plovers came to me after a while laying in the mud!

Hi Daniel,
I really like this portrait, mud baked beak, and the creamy BG. I enjoyed your attempt to flush him out but it all worked out for both of you. thanks, Ann

Lovely, Daniel. Especially like the complimentary bg. Always fun to find a cooperative individual.

Sharp portrait with great depth of field and wonderful eye contact. The muddy beak is my favorite part of the shot. The bokeh is nice here as well. When I was in Louisiana I noticed that black bellied plovers would sometimes run toward me when I squatted down to photograph them......crazy!

DB

Lovely pose and I really like the mud on the beak and complimentary bg.

Good to hear the story as well.

Perfect portrait and great fieldwork. A naive bird helps. :o Well done mate, exceptional indeed! :)

I agree with Doug that your excellent portrait is "sharp where it needs to be," but I also lean toward Randy's suggestion to shoot the plover at f/16. I'd have loved to have seen the wing in sharp focus. I know it's hard to think of so many things when you're crawling on your belly and worried that your friend may not get the shot. (Good story, by the way.) I'm not concerned at all about the caked mud on your plover's bill.

Dan, thx for sharing the story. This is a really good shot. Loved the head turn and the light. Very good comp. as well. Must have very nice to be so close to the bird.

I like the sharpness, muddy beak and BG in this beautiful portrait!

Great story Dan, and getting down and dirty has paid off here. Love the HA and dirty beak, and captured in excellent light. You couldnt ask for a better BG either.

Thanks everyone! Glad you all liked the dirty bill...

Randy, I darkened the pupil as there was a reflected cloud underneath the catchlight making the eye look hazy.

That's what I call a brave plover!

I love the light in this one and the shiny eye! a pitty about the dirty beak but not a major problem for me since I know it is part of the natural history of this handsome bird! Good thing you and Stephen were able to aproach so close! a stunning op for sure!

Daniel, nice story about how you got this and congrats on making the most of the opportunity. Everything looks right on, and as others have mentioned, the background really complements the subject well.

Cheers,
Greg Basco