This Sanderling was photographed on the morning of November 28th in Dunedin, FL using the 7Dii and the 100-400mmL IS ii. I was on my belly and trying to use the oof birds and their reflections in the water as part of the background while inching closer to the group of godwits, willets, sanderlings, plovers, and gulls. I was lucky enough to get this little guy to pause for a few seconds while I waited for the wave. Below are short rundowns of my settings and post processing:
ISO 200
AV ƒ/5.6
TV 1/3200
Focal Length 400mm
Manual Exposure / Servo / AF Point Expansion focused on the corner of the eye to the base of the bill / Back Button Focus
Processed in DPP4 and PScc
1) added a bit of Nik DE to bring out a bit more detail in the whites
2) sharpened after resizing
Thanks for taking the time to look. As always, comments are appreciated.
Nice setting pose and exposure. SS looks good here but I think going f/8 given your ISO could have helped, although looks okay here. I also think more room below if you have it would be good. Great light angle and low POV. TFS
Sharpness is getting better. Looks like you're getting the hand of the resizing/sharpening process. I love the moving water and the contrast in the whites of the bird and the blues of the water. A bit more room below would be nice. When shooting fast moving and running shorebirds you should adjust your autofocus point so you have the birds properly framed. I am guessing by the placement of the bird in the frame that you have the point in the center? Moving it left a little would allow for more room for the bird on the right of the frame and more room for it to run into. As presented I feel the bird is too far right in the frame. The biggest problem with this shot is the problem with photographing Sanderlings in general. They are always with a gang of their of other little speedy trouble makers. You can clearly see the reflections of 3 nearby Sanderlings in the background and to me they are a big distraction. It is very difficult in these fast moving flocks to get enough separation to get a clean shot of the bird and a clean background. Keep getting out there and trying. Thats the most fun part anyway!
A lot of times I also move my focus point up one row to get the bird lower in the frame. This way when you focus on the eye or face area the body is lower - it would have been beneficial here to reduce the space above and add more below in-camera (the wavelet is fantastic, bummer we cannot see more of it). Good details, and the processing is tastefully done.
Thanks for taking the time to view and comment. I think the consensus here was to keep the subject a bit further from the bottom of the frame and back further to the left with more room in front. I have one other frame where the subject is further back in the frame, but it's not as sharp as this one and the wave isn't there. I'll keep the advise in mind and I'll keep experimenting with the placement of the focus points in the frame the next time I'm out.
Sanderling with wave
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