This Black-necked Stilt is one of thirteen I had been observing this past month
at Harns Marsh Preserve. Flight photography of this species I've found extremely
challenging to document as the birds will wade over a long distance and there is
no telling when they will "blast off."
Typical observation technique was made with a radical change by using the 5dm2.
It took me quite a few shots to re-acquaint myself with the characteristics of the
camera compared to the mark3.
I darkened pixels to eliminate a highlight on the tip of the stilt's bill.
The local time was an hour later than the exif data shows. The light on the bird is
natural and was seen about forty minutes after sunrise on a clear day.
Black-necked Stilt at Harns Marsh Preserve
Lehigh Acres, Florida USA
Love the BG. Exp looks good on the wings but the whites on the chest are a bit hot. Head looks soft, focus looks like it was on the bottom wing....Great light though...TFS Bob
Bob, some very good critiques above. Absolutely loved the BG. It'd have been better to stop down a bit( i usually do that to cover for critical focus issue) and use higher ISO...but hindsight is always 20-20...something to try next time.