The Tamest Greater Yellowlegs EVER!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Man, this individual was so tame we could walk up directly to it and photograph with the lens pointed almost straight down at it. Of course if you know me that is not what I did so I plumped down and photographed it resting on a pile of washed-up leaf litter at eye level. It slept a lot at this particular time but did waken once in a while when something out there would grab its attention. We were 5 of us photographing it at point blank with no apparent signs of stress...feeding, preening, stretching, sleeping as per normal. Here is a full-frame portrait of this accommodating beauty

Canon 7D + 500mm f4/II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/160s., f/7.1, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, darkened pupil, toned down a couple of brighter debris (burn tool and a few clicks of a soft brush 30% clone stamp)

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Daniel, very accommodating, and or good fieldcraft, excellent work and with the 7D too.

Classic IQ from you, with just the right amount of detail in the eye, perfect, likewise the bill. POV just works oh so well, but wish the 'pinky red' on the LHS in the BKG was a continuation of the soft greens. great work.

TFS
Steve

[Iain Barker]

Hi Daniel lovely portrait

The IQ is fantastic. I had the same thought as Steve about the darker patch on the left.

[Diane Miller]

Awesome as always. You are the bird whisperer.

I like the bits of color LL -- they are harmonious with the bird and leaves and subdued enough in color and detail that they don't pull my eye there. They provide some weight to that area, which is a little empty otherwise.

Little color details like that serve as a grace note and are a very nice secondary find.

[Ashley Cohen]

Stunning detail, amazing capture. It's wonderful when you can get close to certain birds that are normally not so accommodating. excellent use of the situation to capture a lovely portrait.

[vishaljadhav]

interesting way of composing this one, the IQ is fantastic and the bg is nice
i iike the small bit of green of leaf
lovely

[gail bisson]

Hi Daniel,
This is an amazing close-up. How wonderful to have such a close encounter.
IQ is awesome and I like the leaf litter he /she is resting on. I love the little flipped up feathers on the belly area.
I am with Steve on the red leaves in LLC. A bit distracting.
Well done,
Gail

[Markus Jais]

Fantastic shot. I like the composition. Perfect image quality.
I wish all birds were that tame.

Markus

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Daniel, very nice close up. I'm not too bothered by the pink bits in the BG. Like Diane, I think it adds interest to the otherwise very clean BG. I do find that my eye is drawn away from the main subject by the protruding dark leaf with the little green one in front of it, but it seems difficult to get rid of it. I would have like a little more DOF to get the wings in focus too.

[Melissa Groo]

So interesting to read the different opinions on the pinkish area in llc. I am fine with it, I think it adds interest, and a lovely color. What a neat opportunity you had with this yellowlegs, and you sure made the most of it. Super low angle, and great IQ and detail. Great work.

[David Salem]

Great looking close up with nice feather detail and a good looking green BG. Well done Daniel.

[Girish Prahalad]

striking bill & details. lovely POV & BG.

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Daniel! I like the low angle, details, IQ and composition.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Daniel it can't get any sharper than this! love the low-shooting position, light and nice habitat. It is so good when they let you get close ehh?

[mohammad reza shahab]

Hi Daniel,
I like the low angle, details, IQ and composition.
Excellent light & BG.