Willet in my face...

[Dorian Anderson]

As much as I love shooting exotic stuff in the tropics, I really like trying to portray my local birds
in the most striking way I can. Willets are pretty drab even in their breeding garb (this guy is still
in winter plumage), but if you can get a shot of the underwings then it's a totally different story!
This was taken a few miles from my San Mateo Apartment (SF Bay) a few weeks ago.

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/2500 at f/5.6, ISO 640, handheld
Processed in Lightroom with standard sliders and a bit of
exposure knockdown on the breast

[Jim Wetherall]

Wow! You've nailed this one Dorian! Every part of the subject is razor sharp, perfect head angle, catchlight in the eye, great background, whites and blacks have good exposure. What AF group did you use for this shot?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Oh man, Dorian, you must be thrilled and proud of this image! You could not have asked for a better pose than this. Superb details, well exposed, and gorgeous blue water. Congrats!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Dorian I think everyone would have been delighted to have gotten this image! It really is excellent, the plumage is spectacular

[Isaac Grant]

Pose and details are fantastic. Really shows the hidden beauty of these birds amazingly well. They have not returned to NY yet but when they do I will try and get something like this as it is a dream shot of one of these birds. I think the image is a little on the cool side and would benefit from being warmed up a little. I would also deepen the mid tones by 3 or 4 points. I think those subtle changes would really make this one shine even more than it already does and will bring out the deep tones of the underwing just a little bit more.

[John Mack]

Perfect flight pose here. Great frame. Great detail. Well done.

[stuart wanuck]

very nice flight image

[Arthur Morris]

Super sharp and dramatic with a perfect pose and a sweet background. I would not mind it further back in the frame.

with love, artie

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Wonderfull capture, Dorian. Excellent timing, beautiful detail, and great full wing position with fanned tail. Well done.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dorian, great banking flight pose, and this is tack sharp. The light looks good, and therefore the exposure looks good too, especially on the whites. The Willet pops so well against your blue water BG. Well captured.

[Noel Heustis]

Dorian - Beautiful shot. I love the colors. The browns and whites really stand out against that super blue bg. Great job capturing this one.

[Bob Smith]

Perfect BG colour for this spectacular wingspread image Dorian--you've really made a terrific image of this little bird....that's one of the nicest spread wing displays I've seen, with spot-on focus and exposure throughout.

[John Whaley]

Pose and details are fantastic. Really shows the hidden beauty of these birds amazingly well. They have not returned to NY yet but when they do I will try and get something like this as it is a dream shot of one of these birds. I think the image is a little on the cool side and would benefit from being warmed up a little. I would also deepen the mid tones by 3 or 4 points. I think those subtle changes would really make this one shine even more than it already does and will bring out the deep tones of the underwing just a little bit more.

Love it - I agree with Issac that the image would benefit with a slight tone curve adjustment but wow - Awesome capture. Incoming flight landing pose captures are my favorite as I find them the most dynamic and they show the underwing feathers that you normally never get a good view of.

[Mike Poole]

They nay be relatively drab and common but when you get a frame like this, all those worries go right out of the window. Killer incoming pose - gotta be happy with this one

Mike

[David Salem]

"As good as it gets"!!!! Wish I had this in my files.
You're starting to figure these shorebirds IF shots out.
You guys got a rockin spot up there.
I'll have to come up there sometime and shoot with you guys.