An American Oyster Catcher... well... Catching an Oyster

[Bob Decker]

From a paddle through the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve near Beaufort, North Carolina. I've observed and photographed a lot of Oyster Catchers there but I don't recall ever seeing one picking from a partially exposed oyster. Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500mm @ 313mm, handheld from a gently grounded kayak. ISO 320, f/8.0, 1/500.

[Mack Hicks]

Great work, hand held from a kayak. I really like the action. Looks slightly crosslit, but you obviously could not move easily. How was this cropped? I would either try cropping out the water in the background so just the shells show, or add more water at the top and take away some of the foreground.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Bob, nice pose. I think you stopped down more than you should have. If you look at the water surface, you will see that a lot of water behind the bird is also within DOF. Since you could not get lower( I assume) and the wider BG coverage at that focal length, I think opening up the aperture more would have been a better call...to get a more smooth bokeh.