This was my first time with a camera in front of an American Oystercatcher. After waiting about 20 minutes for him to get accustomed to me, we both had a blast. I laid down and kept a low profile with the lens pointed away from him. As he got closer and more comfortable, I would slowly point the lens toward his direction. After a while, he didn't mind me at all.
Taken at Little Estero Lagoon last week. I have a ton of images from this trip, and I hope to post my favorites here.
Shooting info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 VR | 1.4x | mounted on home-made skimmer pad
700mm | 1/2000" | f/7.1 | ISO 720
Processing was completely done in LR4. Cropped a bit from the left and bottom. Burned in the ground a bit (looking back at it, I think it may have been a bit too much burn). Burned the whites on the chest, increased a bit of the saturation on the beak and greens in the bg.
Comments, critiques, suggestions - all welcomed and appreciated.
A fine portrait. Nice details on the bird, and I dig the look to the eye. Slightly parted bill a nice bonus here.
A consideration at the time of capture would have been to raise your shooting perspective slightly, in order
to have a shot at getting both feet, a little more detail in the sand on the plane of focus, and as a bonus,
a little less impact from the dark shadow area in the upper left side of the frame...
Hi Miguel, I see Shawn's point regarding a slightly higher shooting angle, but at the same time your body would have been 'larger' from not lying down, thus maybe showing more of a treat than your prone position.
Excellent exposure, sharp, and I do like the plumage detail. As is, you could still blend away the ULC to match the rest of the BG.
Shawn, Stuart: Thanks for the comments! I'll have to look around to see if I got any of him when he was higher on the hill, hence showing his feet. I know that for this one, I was excited that he walked to a spot where the bg was green and not white/tan.
I'll post a shot with the ULC cloned out a bit, although it reminds me a bit of the dark spot on the oystercatcher eye. :)
Congratulations on your first Oystercatcher! That must have been exciting. Nice capture. I like the pose and the open bill. I do wish I could see the feet. Great detail and image quality.
This is actually a female, the pupil extensions or flecks like that are a female characteristic; the males have neat round pupils.
Beautifully done Miguel. You got a perfect pose and that open bill is a neat touch. The light was starting to get harsh but it is dealt with nicely. I agree a bit higher would have been better. Not much would have been needed, perhaps an inch or two higher.
American Oystercatcher
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