Semipalmated Plover.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I was photographing a small flock Semipalmated Plovers resting comfortably in the sand when they all suddenly rose up and started to fly away, excpet for a few stragglers that took their time to leave. Often after a long rest some birds such as shorebirds, gulls, and waterfowl will either offer a sideways single wingstretch or a double wings-up stretch like here. I have been wanting an image like this for a long time...finally got one!!!

Thank goodness for the zoom as I was photographing it from closer and correctly anticipated to zoom out just in case...but I still clipped the two top-most primaries AARRGGHH!! I don't normally do extensive processing like this but I just had to rebuild them as it was too much of a heartbreak for me. After adding canvas I used the clone tool to carefully extend the feathers and replace the tips and then the liquify filter to straighten the shaft of the top-most feather in place.

Canon 7D + 100-400L @320mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1250s., f/7.1, ISO 400 (histogram checked), more than FF , minor FG cleanup, darkened the pupil.

[Ofer Levy]

Fantastic image! Sharp with awesome detail, great exposure and great pose!

[Chris Martinez]

Oh Wow! Love the soft dreamy setting and the wings-up pose with super eye contact is very engaging. Is this not the perfect side-profile-wing-up pose possible?!!
Not sure what tweaking you've done in PP regarding exposure like adjustments(if any) but the bird looks killer!!

[Doug Brown]

Fabulous image Daniel. Perfect pose with maximum wing stretch and great eye contact. The low shooting angle collapses your DOF to good effect. Just the right amount of habitat. Well done!

[Melissa Groo]

Wow, just superb. The setting, the exposure, that perfect wing stretch, the raised foot--this is a real winner, Daniel. Great work.

[Jack Breakfast]

With an image this good, I too would have taken the time to rebuild the wingtips...great work, it's seamless!

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful. The perfect wing stretch, combined with great background and low POV. Good PP work; I certainly would not have trashed this just because of a few wing-tips.

[Josh Clark]

Awesome action shot! Terrific PP as well, looks like a totally normal shot. Great exposure on those whites showing some great details. Also like the gradient BG shown.

[Marina Scarr]

Killer image, Daniel. The light is stunning (once again) and the details and sharpness are exceptional here. I love the pose but that green vegetation is really special in this capture.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, pretty much everything came together here. Great show of the extended wings, exposure looks spot on, sharp, and your traditional low angle puts this over the top. Excellent pp work BTW.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Great capture. The pose is stunning and the detail is to die for. The oof plant on the right looks a bit un-natural. It's almost like the plane of focus doesn't extend to the right. Either way, stunning capture!

[Sachin Saraf]

This is amazing capture Daniel...superb Low angle, wing stretch, Ha and eye contact..Loved it...You did great job capturing the pose and in PP.

[gail bisson]

Great PP work! Absolutely seamless.
Love the image and the wing stretch and the walking pose.
I love the pop of green and the slight head turn as well.
Well done Daniel,
Gail

[MohsenVahedipour]

Congratulation for this capture. Excellent light, shooting angle, exposure & IQ. Wing position could not be better that this. TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent dynamic pose with good details and nice light plus a nice hint of habitat. best of these series

[Manjeet & Yograj Jadeja]

simply mind blowing stuff,
loved the balance between size of the bird and the habitat.
wingtips nicely done as well