When I heard that there were Common Eider that were summering at one of our local beaches I got there as soon as I could. As luck would have it, there were 5 of them that came out of the water, walked around and even went for a run down the beach! This sub adult male was photographed a few minutes before sunset as it ran down the beach. In all my years of birding I had never seen a sea duck running around and I was thrilled that I had my camera locked on him while he was doing it. The waters in this area of long island turn a beautiful purplish-blue as the sun is setting.
Canon 1dx mark ii and Canon 600 f4 ii. ISO 1600, SS 1/1000, F 7.1
Last edited by Isaac Grant; 08-07-2018 at 08:24 PM.
Wonderful work Isaac, what a find! I have never seen an eider running down the beach, mostly they sit on the waters edge... Im happy that the motion blur adds to the movement here, love the subadult colors and the HA and wing position is perfect! I'd flip for this!
Perfect subject to sensor plane orientation with the bird angling toward you. Head angle, the flapping pose, the sweet light, and the killer BKGR are all perfect.
with love and thanks for sharing,
a
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A rather unique image. I like the single toe touching the ground. I'd be tempted to remove the larger bright piece of debris on the lower belly. You must have been rather happy with this opportunity!
ps: what AF mode? Where was the selected (or active) AF point?
with love, artie
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Full center zone Artie and 4 points were on the belly which thankfully gave enough depth of field to keep the face sharp. I actually have a string of about 20 shots or so of this sequence that are all sharp.
Thanks Isaac. I was really liking large Zone before I switched to Nikon ...
with love, artie
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
A bit like a fish out of water - makes for a really fun shot. Wing and foot blur add to feeling of motion nicely. This is about the only interesting frame a bird that beat-up could yield.
Those summering birds are always in bad shape; They would have migrated otherwise!
Dorian you know it’s funny but the birds don’t look all that beat up until they raised their wings. I have some frames of them where they look really nice. Especially the lone frmale. Have a fun one of her that I will post as well. But man when they raise their wings they look like they lost a 15 round fight!
Bit late here, What a cracker Isaac. Just love the 'pop' on the bird. I have photographed them lots, as you know, but, never managed a pose like this one. Very well done.