Greater Yellowlegs.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This Greater Yellowlegs started walking towards from a ways out, and did not stop until it was inside of minimum focusing distance. Then it began to preen. Great, now I had to do the careful reverse army-crawl in the mud to get it back outside MFD, and with a good composition distance. With its back angled slightly towards me, all I had to do is wait for a proper head angle...which it mostly refused to do. I got it here though, but not before I got its attention with noises from my mouth and lips!

Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/640s., f/14, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, FF, eye work, toned down some highlights along the bill.

[David Roach]

Sounds like good problem to have and lots of fun. As usual, you make me sick... How do you army crawl through mud (reverse or otherwise) and keep your gear safe... At any rate, as usual, pretty much perfect result. TFS

[Dorian Anderson]

This is a great result of this often skittish species! It's amazing how tolerant shorebirds are when you're willing to get low and dirty! f/14 - not messing around with the DOF!

As to your comment on my dowitcher flight shot, flight is all I can do around here. I cannot crawl in the clean/tidal parts of SF Bay because the mud is so soft it will literally
eat me and my gear alive. Much of the Bay is diked, restricted access, and/or so disgusting getting in to shoot low in not an option. The front beach on the Pacific is pitched
very steeply, and we do not have the wide open flat tidal estuaries like I had back east. So, all I can do it find a spot on the bayshore and wait for birds to fly by. I really miss
having a good place to crawl around and get dirty.

[Paul Burdett]

Awesome detail in that closeup! Just the right amount of room in front of the bird...super sharp too. Another winner Daniel...and kudos for the "reverse crawl".

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very nice composition. I like the blues in the background.

Very Good Depth of Field.

TFS

[dankearl]

Detail on the bill is amazing... nice work.

[Bill Dix]

A beauty of a close-up, with great detail and stunning BG. Keep crawling.

[Aditya Sridhar]

Agreed with all the positives mentioned above. This is an absolute stunner!

[John Mack]

Great tight portrait here. The background is killer with the gradient of blue. Talk about stopping down.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the head shot, great details and soft light