Western Snowy Plover

[Loi Nguyen]

This is my first image of this endangered/threatened species. I went to a local beach to see if the snowy plovers have started their nesting season. It was late in the morning already and the sun was high, so not ideal at all, but I found a pair of these plovers out foraging. it was pretty tough to take pictures of them. They are small, about 6 inches tall, and were constantly on the move.

1DX
500f4 II + 2X III @ 1000mm
1/3200
f10
ISO-1250
Handheld while lying on the beach
Full frame.

Thank you for your comments

Loi

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hi Loi!

Great to find you posting in Avian, I would love to post here more often as well Love this image, nice detail on the bird, your camera settings ensured you obtained a super crisp shot of this little bird (indeed they are so small). You handled so well the harsh sun, well exposed, love the light in the eye there and it looks as if he stopped to look at you-nice eye contact

Kind regards,

[Pamela de Zilva]

Love the pose and eye contact. I find the background a little distracting, especially right across the middle section. Spotting an endangered species is a huge bonus. Well done.

[Steve Spenceley]

You did a wonderful job of capturing this species, POV is excellent. Background is a little distracting but it doesn't take away from the bird at all IMO.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Awesome angle Loi, super detail and sharp! You handled the light well! Congrats on this rare find!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, love the low POV, but agree, the BKG is a tad distracting. I think you could have afforded to drop the ISO based on the SS and perhaps f/9? Hard to tell from from where I am at present Loi, but perhaps a % Luminosity adjustment may help, WDYT?

Cool to get an endangered species, lets hope the image does not become reality and this is the only way we will see it.

TFS
Steve

[Binu John]

Excellent low level shot, Loi! You did good in harsh light! Love that blue gradient BG, pose and POV!

[Loi Nguyen]

Thank you very much for your comments and feedback. I know this is not an ideal setting, but would like to post to get feedback for future. I'm sure I will go back in better light. I had other images with clean BG, but the catch light and contact were not present due to the light so high overhead. So, given that I can live with a little distracting BG.

Steve, vie, you were right, I had the SS to shoot at ISO 800 and f9. It turned out that handholding 1000mm while lying on the ground is harder than I thought, so I decided to be safe than sorry with the SS and the DOF. Loi

[David Salem]

Nice looking capture Loi. Nice low angle and the pose looks great. Yes the BG is a bit distracting and the light a bit harsh but you just got a nice shot of this endangered species!! Well done

[Ian Wilson]

Hi Loi, My first impression was wow! This is a really nice picture - I did not even notice the background as my attention was captured by the bird's eye. I would remove the fuzzy stuff in front of the breast. Thanks for your feedback on my albatross, good suggestion which I will try. Regards, Ian