American Avocet

Gallery: AvianPosted September 10, 2010203 views23 comments

I don't often get reasonable chances at this species in flight and when I do I typically blow the exposure because it's usually an unexpected and very quick encounter. Lower background is far off Antelope Island.

7D, 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window on 4/20/10, cropped to 48% of original image, small exposure adjustment in ACR, sharpened, no further adjustments or processing, natural light

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

23 comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on September 10, 2010 at 5:18 PM

Nice flight shot Ron-exposure looks spot on IMO.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on September 10, 2010 at 6:43 PM

Super sweet shot Ron. No nits from me on this one. Love the slightly open beak, nice angle of approach, and wing position. Very well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on September 10, 2010 at 6:48 PM

On the larger version I notice that the bill is open, but the tip is nearly closed. Pretty cool!
A great shot! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Geoffrey Baker on September 10, 2010 at 6:49 PM

An excellent flight shot Ron

The wings are in a perfect position IMO.
Well captured.

Geoff.

Registered on August 20, 2010, 192 Posts, 980 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Elwood on September 10, 2010 at 7:22 PM

Ron EXCELLENT!! Wonderful exposure and BG.

Registered on January 15, 2010, 101 Posts, 396 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on September 10, 2010 at 7:22 PM

I wish I could do this well with these birds here in AZ. Nice sharpness; good exposure; great wing position; clean background.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on September 10, 2010 at 8:55 PM

Wonderful BIF shot, Ron. Great view of the whole bird, including those very long legs....and even an eye catchlight!

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Ákos Lumnitzer on September 11, 2010 at 1:22 AM

Awesome shot Ron. Love the downward pointed wings. Perfect for me.

Registered on April 24, 2004, 25 Posts, 510 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on September 11, 2010 at 1:54 AM

The perfect flying avocet !

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on September 11, 2010 at 2:15 AM

Nice one Ron - great wing position and nothing to break the lines in the background.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on September 11, 2010 at 5:07 AM

Very nice shot, Ron !
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on September 11, 2010 at 8:26 AM

Ron,

The soft blue in the background accents the warmer colors of the avocet, love the slightly open bill, wing position and eye contact. Great work on the exposure too, this is a difficult species to expose well when in flight.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by John Kerr on September 11, 2010 at 8:58 AM

Ron, I'm always sure to click on your photos as well as some of the other incredible avian photographers here just to enjoy an awesome picture. I surely cant offer any critique of your images for your approach and technique is far more advanced than my own. I just wanted to let you know I enjoy them and I do take note of the specs that you and the others leave and use them as a guide or reference to improve my own photography. Thanks and well done.

Registered on October 28, 2009, 111 Posts, 1070 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on September 11, 2010 at 9:42 AM

sweet, Ron. great wing position and open bill. nice work on the exposure.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on September 11, 2010 at 12:29 PM

Now, this is a flight shot! Well done, Ron!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on September 11, 2010 at 3:20 PM

Great flight shot Ron

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on September 11, 2010 at 9:23 PM

Large view looks very nice Ron, excellent details.
I think you did a great job on the exposure here with this difficult B&W plumage..
Saving my nickels & dimes so I can move up to the Mark IV.
Could use some more wiggle room like you've got here with that 7D

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by denise ippolito on September 11, 2010 at 10:01 PM

Beautiful down stroke and nice details. I like the steel blue sky.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on September 12, 2010 at 10:18 AM

Great shot Ron. I can see where getting the proper exposure with this species might be difficult. I think for that reason more and more photographers are shooting flight shots with manual exposure. Anyway, glad you were able to get a good shot of this one.

Ronnie

Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on September 13, 2010 at 1:37 PM

Great flight shot Ron.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Rohn B. McKee on September 13, 2010 at 10:41 PM

Another excellent exposure of a difficult capture.

Registered on November 18, 2008, 109 Posts, 415 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Taylor on September 14, 2010 at 3:02 PM

Great bird in flight shot.
Matt

Registered on July 31, 2010, 5 Posts, 91 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on September 15, 2010 at 11:02 PM

Very nicely done image. I like the downbeat on the wings revealing that excellent detail on the top. I also like with slightly open upturned beak.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments