Semipalmated Plover (juvenile)

[Daniel Cadieux]

Same fellow as last post, but with calmer waters:). Very cooperative little fella to approach, but it was looking away about 90% of the time! Even making small noises did not compel it to turn its head towards me...it would do so at its own liking - just enough to let me know it was aware of my presence.

Canon 40D + 100-400L @285mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering (+1.7 stops, metered off water and histogram checked), 1/640s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, FF.

[Amano Samarpan]

Is this a young one? You seem to have caught the detail in the feathers very well !!

Legs look a little surreal.

Amano

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the detail, perch and pose in this image. I liked the action you captured in the last post but the calmness in this one makes it my favourite. Well done Daniel!

[Bhushan Dalvi]

Daniel, I like the details in the feathers and the HA. TSA.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

FF at 285mm - cooperative indeed!
Like the sharpness, expsosure and comp a lot.

[wendell westfall]

Daniel, I like the saucy pose and the overall uncluttered look.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Is this a young one? You seem to have caught the detail in the feathers very well !!

Legs look a little surreal.

Amano

Thanks Amano, yes this is a young one. The legs are as seen in the raw file (I imagine you are talking about the "two-tone" aspect).

[Arthur Morris]

Sweet light, sweet bird, and agree with all the positives above. With the bird angled 45 degrees away from you, my preference would be for the head to be square to the sensor.

[Mike Tracy]

You consistently eek more out of your equipment IQ wise then those with 3 times the goods.

I would prefer either to see more of the far eye or none at all. I like the character of the log and background colors.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Dan your the man! Exposure as you say is perfectomondo, you have a fast shutter speed and a fairly small aperture, I suspect your elbows were wedged, you had patience in approaching your subject - I reckon this is good technique that is why it is so good. I so often see great shots taken with cameras other than 1D and D3, it is the photographer and the lens who make the biggest difference.

[Jim Fenton]

With the exception of the HA and that would be nitpicking, I like everything about this, especially the soft lighting and excellent detail.

A bit of a catchlight, even if it were added in processing and I think the HA would make no difference.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Dan your the man! Exposure as you say is perfectomondo, you have a fast shutter speed and a fairly small aperture, I suspect your elbows were wedged, you had patience in approaching your subject - I reckon this is good technique that is why it is so good. I so often see great shots taken with cameras other than 1D and D3, it is the photographer and the lens who make the biggest difference.

Thanks a ton Jonathan! I was down low on one knee for this one, with both my elbows braced on my other knee. Yes, good technique trumps better equipment most, if not all the time. Again, thanks for the kind words...:)