Black Bellied Plover with breakfast.

[Bob Blanchard]

Since the tropical storm has kind of limited us Floridians a bit from heading North for weekend shooting, I just stayed local. Ran into Adams Serra out at Ding, which was as dead as could be on Saturday. Ran over to Blind Pass instead, as I'd been meaning to really put my 40D though the course since changing the settings based on Artie's article in the recent newsletter. Needless to say, I was very happy with the results. This is also the first time I had ever used my 100-400 on the 40D. I have to say that if there's a better combo for shorebird work, I don't know what it would be. Light, quick, easy to carry, and plenty of focal length with that crop factor. And of course, the zoom just made it much easier to deal with the varying closeness of the different species. I'll be using this combo a lot more than the 600 on the 1DsMII for this type of work from now on.

Anyway, this one is indicitive of the morning. Lots of nice, sharp images. Nothing unusual or exotic, but fantastic results.

Canon 40D, 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS @ 350mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1600, 0 EV. Hand held using IS mode 1 while laying on ground. Aperture priority.

[Linda Robbins]

Hi Bob -

So much to like with this image.....Nice low perspective, perfect pose and head angle, soft light, prey item, and good composition. A beautiful image all around.

____________________

Linda

[Ramon M. Casares]

Agree with Linda's comment, I just really like it! Congratulations!

[Juan Aragonés]

Good low angle here ans lots of plumage details. The prey on the beak is a fantastic bonus. My only suggestion to improve the result is to rework the eye area to add more light (just a few minutes in PS)

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Bob, Pretty much perfect. Good images of shorebirds with a prey item are rare. The only way to make it better would be to have had the bird stand right atop that tiny sand hill...