They have returned to the beaches of New York City for another season of trying to raise their young among the crowds of people at the beach. I got out there this weekend when I was the only person on the whole beach. Temperatures were in the mid 40's (fahrenheit) with a cold wind blowing off of the ocean. Approaching the birds was pointless as they would just run away to the miles of empty beach. So I laid down in the wet sand and waited for them to approach me. I picked the cleanest part of the beach with no debris so I could have the cleanest shot possible with the perfect colors of the setting sun. Then just waited to see if I would get lucky which thankfully I did.
Canon 1dx and Canon 500 f4ii + 1.4xiii. Tripod mounted while lying in the sand. F8, ISO 640, SS 1/2500
Processed with DPP 4.6 and PS.