I had never even laid eyes on a Hudsonian Godwit before as they are very uncommon here, so when a local photographer told me about one, and that it was still present at that location, it was time for me to go try my luck with it. At first it was shy and a little bit wary, but soon became comfortable with our presence. It turned out to be a fun and productive session!
Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2000s., f/5.6, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, small crop after rotation, an odd growth bump on the bill was removed as it was much too prominent from this angle, darkened the pupil and removed a second catchlight that was large oddly shaped.
Congratulations! Not only did you get your lifer, but you caught him in a gorgeous setting, with beautiful light, great detail and your usual low POV. Certainly the best Hudwit image I've ever seen.
Love the sheen of the foreground, simplicity of the background, and the lifted foot dragging vegetation. Great colors and detail on the bird. I was wondering about that bump on the bill in my shots of this bird. It looks better with a little cosmetic surgery ;). A little detail I like is the slight hint of vegetation in the water and how you placed it in the frame, with equal clear space on each side.
What a nice image. Always great when a rare bird presents some nice opportunities. Digging real deep to come up with a suggestion for improvement, I would suggest filling in the gold color top left corner. Love the remnants of breeding colors. Well done, as always.
My First Hudsonian Godwit.
Reply With Quote
