Oystercatcher on Eggs

[Arthur Morris]

Nickerson has been very good and things are getting better daily. Well, except for the rain today . This image was created with the tripod-mounted Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens, the 2X III TC, and the 1D X. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/1250 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode.

To see more recent Nickerson images and to learn how I screwed up big time on Saturday morning, see "The Big Attractions/Big Screw-up/Coming Attractions" here.

As for the image, don't be shy: all comments are welcome.

[Arthur Morris]

ps: forgot--the #13 nest mark sign was eliminated in Photoshop.

[dankearl]

Neat image seeing the eggs close up.
Maybe a dumb question, but is the pupil that odd looking or is something wrong with it?

[Arthur Morris]

This species typically has odd shaped pupils and small seeming imperfections there. Not sure why.... So no, nothing wrong with it.

[John Ippolito]

Love the composition, exquisite texture in the feathers, bold colors of the bill and eye, and the OOF vegetation is in a perfect position - Oh yeah, the pair of eggs take it over the top. Beautiful work, Artie.

[John Chardine]

The odd shaped pupil is in fact a dark "fleck" in the iris. The pupil is round as normal. Presence of a full eye fleck in oystercatchers indicates a female.

Super low angle and love the blowing sand. Very nice light on subject despite it looking very bright.

[Karl Egressy]

Great image, excellent shooting angle and seeing the eggs is priceless.
I also love the Sanderling image in full breeding plumage on your blog.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks all and Karl. Karl, the Sanderlings have been a dime a dozen and if you simply sit, they come right up to you. Of course, they rarely stay still for more than one second....

[Girish Prahalad]

beautiful! superb IQ, exposure & the low shooting angle. The eggs are the icing 'below' the cake.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

My first thought, was too bright, but it really is that bright of course on the beach, the blowing sand adds to the effect, the bent grasses attest to the wind as well.

Besides the fine techs, I like the story telling nature of this image.

Cheers

Randy

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Artie this is perfect, love the fantastic detail, IQ and sharpness. The two eggs and blowing sand take this image to another level, nice work.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Artie, you have absolutely nailed the exposure on the OC, on both dark and lighter plumage. Perfect angled pose, great seeing the hint of the eggs, and I do like how the OOF foliage on the right blends into the upper BG. Well captured.

[Marina Scarr]

Killer nesting image, Artie. Love the flying sand, the hint of environment and the peek at the eggs.

[adrian dancy]

The overall composition is fine and the blowing sand with the bird on eggs are a nice touch. However, I cannot in all honesty agree with comments above regarding exposure. The dark plumage is perfect but some whites look very grey which I can only suppose results from a too aggressive approach to recovery of detail IMHO.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Very nicely done, love the contrast on the bird´s plumage, and light.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent view of the eggs Artie, I had never seen OC eggs before.

the whites are perfect.

[Frank Schauf]

Fantastic. Wonderful scene, colors and background.

[Arthur Morris]

Excellent view of the eggs Artie, I had never seen OC eggs before.

the whites are perfect.

Thanks Arash. That's how I see the WHITEs. If you want eggs, check out Eggs-ZACT-ly here.

[Arthur Morris]

Killer nesting image, Artie. Love the flying sand, the hint of environment and the peek at the eggs.

Thanks Marina and all. As of Monday afternoon one egg had hatch, one egg still in the nest. My guess is that the latter will likely not hatch....

[John Chardine]

The overall composition is fine and the blowing sand with the bird on eggs are a nice touch. However, I cannot in all honesty agree with comments above regarding exposure. The dark plumage is perfect but some whites look very grey which I can only suppose results from a too aggressive approach to recovery of detail IMHO.

This is a portion of the area under the wing to which Adrian is referring (I think). There's an area of grey-white running about luminosity = 80 which appears to be relatively detail-free compared to the surrounding areas. It's not easy to see what caused this.

[Arthur Morris]

If I am understanding you correctly Joh, I gotta say with all due respect, that the grey is the shadow of the wing as I was working slightly off sun angle.... But I do not think that that is what Adrian is talking about. I am fine with the WHITEs. On the TIFF, the brightest WHITEs are 231, just where I want them. Adrian may have a point based on individual taste preferring the WHITEs on most of the breast to be a brighter WHITE..... But most folks are fine with the WHITEs as am I.

[adrian dancy]

The shadow created by the rounded portion of the wing looks fine to me and just how I would expect it. Other parts of the breast/lower body which are in shadow do not reveal detail where I would expect some, I see blocked out grey making parts of the bird's breast appear blotchey. Perhaps my choice of words or analysis was wrong but I remain of the view that there is something not quite right here and I thought it significant enough to mention. It is of course just my opinion and made with nothing less than the best intentions just in case there is any doubt.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Love thay we can see the eggs.
Terrific shooting angle, exposed very well, excellent details, and great comp.
Very well done.