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The Early Bird
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The Early Bird

by David Sparks

Gallery: AvianPosted July 22, 2010157 views18 comments
D300, 500mm f/4 + 1.7x tc, tripod
ISO 250, 1/500 sec at f/8
Semipalmated, Piping and Snowy Plovers were active at the edge of a small tide pool next to Santa Rosa Sound where I was birding to escape the BP clean-up crews working on the Gulf side of the island. Photo taken about an hour after sunrise. Cropped to about 63K pixels per gram (of bird weight). I selectively sharpened the bird and darkened the BG just a bit to increase contrast.
Comments and suggestions most welcome.

Comments

18 comments
Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 22, 2010 at 7:34 PM
Lovely shot David, great lighting and I love the worm. The only thing I'm not thrilled about in the image is the out of focus reddish line which runs parallel to the worm. :toast:
Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on July 22, 2010 at 11:18 PM
Nice action - lots of tension in this from the stretched worm. Good low angle view.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by Glenn Bartley on July 22, 2010 at 11:42 PM
Great shot David! :toast:
Registered on June 29, 2004, 448 Posts, 1180 Comments
Comment posted by Simon Bennett on July 23, 2010 at 12:36 AM
Well done being the early photographer to catch both worm and bird - excellent image David.
Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments
Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on July 23, 2010 at 2:59 AM
Beautiful light, David!
Mauro
Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments
Comment posted by May Haga on July 23, 2010 at 9:41 AM
Great catch David.
May
Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments
Comment posted by denise ippolito on July 23, 2010 at 10:02 AM
I like the pulling action and the BG. Nice job on the whites.
Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Hackley on July 23, 2010 at 11:41 AM
Wonderful timing to get this, I like the contrast and low angle along with the title, way to go.
Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments
Comment posted by Steve Balke on July 23, 2010 at 3:09 PM
Nice capture, David. Great action! I wonder what will happen when that worm lets go of the ground! I don't see any problem with this image. It looks great to me. In particular, I can't see the OOF reddish line that Nate has referred to.....could be a bit of color blindness....sometimes it helps me to be a bit colorblind! :toast:
P.S.: I just noticed your new image quality measure: MP per g of bird. Neat. Must be tough to weigh one though.....and is that with or without worm? :smile:
Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 23, 2010 at 7:02 PM
Interesting measure of crop, David. Great low angle, light and detail. The stretched prey is really a neat touch. :toast:
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by David Chauvin on July 23, 2010 at 8:06 PM
Cool behavior shot, David. The angled light is nice. :cool:
Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments
Comment posted by Mia McPherson on July 23, 2010 at 8:09 PM
Dave,

I love the way the plover is pulling the worm out of the tidal mud, a behavior I saw & photographed quite often in FL. I also love the low angle you achieved, the setting and the light.
Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments
Comment posted by Charles Gangas on July 23, 2010 at 10:25 PM
Wonderful capture Dave. Nice lighting and excellent work with the exposure. I notice what looks like reed/marsh grass that has a green/brown color which runs parallel to the outstretched worm...and adds a bit of symmetry to the image, IMO. :toast:
Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments
Comment posted by Rob Drummond on July 23, 2010 at 11:14 PM
Great shot David - really like the way the bird is leaning back with the effort. I can see a Funniest Home Videos moment any second.

cheers
Rob
Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments
Comment posted by Pete Bengeyfield on July 23, 2010 at 11:20 PM
Did the worm break? Excellent shot!
Registered on December 2, 2003, 1247 Posts, 3439 Comments
Comment posted by Derrick Lipinski on July 24, 2010 at 1:27 AM
A great action shot, David' very sharp. :smile:
Registered on October 5, 2007, 58 Posts, 2039 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Dudley on July 24, 2010 at 10:39 AM
I like this very much Dave - a pose and situation I usually expect with a robin. I agree with Richard that the taughtness of the worm supplies interesting tension (in a couple of ways). I do see the OOF red line but it doesn't bother me in the least. Neat shot.
Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Archer on July 24, 2010 at 5:42 PM
Super Cool :cool: Nice work David!!!

Ken Archer
Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments