Hungry Sanderling

[Brian Barcelos]

Not very easy to sneak up on these guys so I laid down on the wet sand and stood as still as possible until they were close enough. Even worse was all the rocks jabbing into my ribs and the Horse Flies constantly gnawing at my ankles!:eek:;) I took about 175 images of them and kept maybe 40 or so. I'll start off with this one eating some kind of crustacean that they were digging out of the surf as the waves rolled in.
Thanks to Axel for the I.D. as I was confused with the breeding/non- breeding plumage.
Thanks for looking, All C/C appreciated.
Brian

Canon EOS 20D
Manual Exposure
Tv 1/1600
Av 7.1
Evaluative Metering
ISO 400
Tamron 200-500mm@500mm

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Angle, light and action look very good, well worth the tough conditions. I wish the eye were more open and might sharpen the bird a tad more.

[Brian Barcelos]

Edited post above with extra sharpening.

Thanks Axel, Seems like I lost some sharpening when I saved it to Flickr.

Brian

[Axel Hildebrandt]

The bird looks better in the repost but the BG is quite noisy now. Did you sharpen the bird only or the entire image?

[David Fletcher]

Not having seen the original, I guess sharpening has been done on the entire image too Brian. Worth some TLC as the low angle of view and light look really good.

[Aidan Briggs]

Adding on the above comments, It could use some rotation. Also I would suggest sharpening only the bird, as the BG can become quite noisy if you sharpen the whole image.

[Brian Barcelos]

Sorry about the noise and yes I did sharpen the whole picture without even thinking twice.:confused: Hope this is an improvement.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Yes, this version looks much better!

[Aidan Briggs]

Yes the repost is much better. It could still use some CCW rotation though...

[Stu Bowie]

Getting down and wet has created a great low angle. I like the light and colours, and the partially closed eye doesnt distract. It showws us his invovlement with his next meal. I agree a CCW rotation is needed. Still, well captured Brian.