A Shadle Oystercatcher

[Doug Brown]

Spent a wonderful morning with Jim Neiger, Arash Hazeghi, and Walt Anderson on James Shadle's boat today. Got some great looks at Spoonies, Ibis, Pelicans, Egrets, and Cormorants. But my target species was the American Oystercatcher. Here's one of my favorites.



Canon 1D Mark IV, 500mm + 1.4x, f/7.1, 1/3200, ISO 400, manual exposure, hand held

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent Doug, love the top bank and details...super tough bird to get in flight up close and sharp!

[Dan Brown]

Very nice Doug, I mean "Diesel" Great banking shot! The bg is a tiny bit dark but I'm on my laptop.

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Doug, I mean "Diesel" Great banking shot! The bg is a tiny bit dark but I'm on my laptop.

Dan, BG is completely faithful to the scene, we shot this from the water, BG is distant vegetation that was in the shade at the time, and with direct light on the OC, this dramatic effect was created. Anyone who wants to see these magnificent spices up close needs to see captain Shadle!

[Stu Bowie]

Good banking angle Doug, and those reds really pop nicely from the darker BG. I also like how the whites on the wings form a V. Well captured.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Great top view and wing position...Also find the BG a bit dark but the image still works really nicely...Nice one Doug!

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Love the image . Looks like it seemed very interested in you ....eyes fixed on you !! The dark BG works for this one !

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

Well captured,sharp, nice feather detail, well exposed.

A slightly lighter background would help with the birds separation, but I know this is a faithful representation of many of the shooting areas at Alafia.

Cheers

Randy

[bhavya joshi]

Nice and sharp image...I like the dark orange beak and eye.. well came out in Dark BG..

[Ofer Levy]

Awesome pose and looks sharp to me. Agree with the comments regarding the BG.

[Troy Lim]

Nice shot Doug, been there, BG is just exactly how it is showing in the image.
Nice talking to you, have fun down at BCL tomorrow.

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful flight shot. These guys go by very quickly. Love the carrot stick and eye jumping out of the BG. Ditto Randy's comments as the the BG.

[Doug Brown]

Hi folks. As pointed out by the people who have been there, this is a faithful representation of the BG. I'll try lightening it to see if it looks better. There's an interesting discussion going on in the General Photography Forum right now about the merits of aperture priority vs. manual mode for bird photography. The above image would have been extremely difficult to capture in anything but manual mode.

[Jim Fenton]

Beautiful and a stunner as it is. I might have tried blurring the BG a bit but honestly, I'd be really happy with it as is.

[Doug Brown]

Thank you all for taking the time to comment!

[Melissa Groo]

Love this, Doug. Awesome job getting this wing spread and so sharp!

[James Salywoda]

Stunning Shot!!!! You sure nailed this Oystercatcher beautifully done Doug.