Red-capped Plover (Female?)

[kipper]

Sometimes getting the morning sun is a pain in the bum. Sunday morning, up at 3.30am and out the door at 4.15am to travel 150km before sunrise and then have a 45min walk before you get to see any birds. Spent most of the morning head down in sand crawling along trying to photograph birds. These Red-capped Plovers always seem fascinated as to what sort of creature I am. Probably thinking "look at this dickhead, he thinks he's in the army". By the end of the shoot my camera and barrel of the lens is covered in sand. The D70 lack of a weather seal is getting a bit of a test. So far so good


D70, 500F4 AFSII, 1.4x, Wimberley + Skimmer Pod
700MM, ISO 200, 1/4000, F8, Spot -0.3EV, 95% of Frame

[Manta]

Well worth the effort you went to Darryl - a lovely capture. The selective depth of field is stunning and the look on the bird's face is very appealing.

[Heath Bennett]

Beautiful Kipper, and bokeh heaven.

[Zeeke]

Youve nailed it Darryl.. you cant get it any better then that... damn nice image!!

Tim

[avkomp]

great shot Darryl,
summer blows as far as getting up early to beat the sunrise
Steve

[stubbsy]

Darryl

Good to see you back. That is one fine pic - bird is nice and sharp, bokeh is wonderfully creamy and the selective DOF rounds things out well. That new(ish) lens is really perfoming in your capable hands.

Since I don't know the bird well enough I may be wrong, but the whole image seems to have a yellow cast to me.

[birddog114]

Darryl,
Very nice!!!!!!!
Did you have any nice bird photos which you captured with the D2h? Haven't seen you post any of them.
Glad to see you're back too.

[Alpha_7]

Darryl, well worth the effort (IMO) this shot is sharp has creamy bokeh, and a very engaging little birdy too! Nicely down, and glad to hear the D70 is keeping out the elements good enough

[wendellt]

Welcome back

Very neat image daryl, nice colour too

[the foto fanatic]

Neat!
Plovers are normally easily agitated - you've done well to capture this one.

[xerubus]

wow is all i can say! well done mate.

cheers

[Finch]

Darryl,
I would be proud to have this shot of a Red-capped Plover in my image library. It is so sharp, great DOF and has a lovely feel to it. I can appreciate the hours spent crawling on your belly, sand everywhere etc. and have been there many times.

Well done!

Cheers

Michael

[Catcha]

Nice bird shot........

[Gordon]

D70, 500F4 AFSII, 1.4x, Wimberley + Skimmer Pod
700MM, ISO 200, 1/4000, F8, Spot -0.3EV, 95% of Frame

very nicely done
Are you sure about those exposure details? Unless you used flash fill it should be ~ 2 stops underexposed in mid morning sunlight, but it doesnt look underexposed... I guess theres a bit of reflection off the sand to add some photons!

Gordon

[BT*ist]

Gorgeous shot!!

Love the colouring of the background - works so well to highlight the bird!

[Alpha_7]

D70, 500F4 AFSII, 1.4x, Wimberley + Skimmer Pod
700MM, ISO 200, 1/4000, F8, Spot -0.3EV, 95% of Frame

very nicely done
Are you sure about those exposure details? Unless you used flash fill it should be ~ 2 stops underexposed in mid morning sunlight, but it doesnt look underexposed... I guess theres a bit of reflection off the sand to add some photons!

Gordon

Exif data from the file.
Make = NIKON CORPORATION
Model = NIKON D70
Software = Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows
Date Time = 2006-01-23 22:11:59
Artist = Darryl Morgan
Copyright = Darryl Morgan (c) 2006
Exif IFD Pointer = Offset: 368

[Camera]
Exposure Time = 1/4000"
F Number = F8
Exposure Program = Aperture priority
Exif Version = Version 2.2
Date Time Original = 2006-01-22 08:10:34
Date Time Digitized = 2006-01-22 08:10:34
Exposure Bias Value = -0.33EV
Max Aperture Value = F5.66
Metering Mode = Spot
Light Source = Cloudy weather
Flash = Off
Focal Length = 700mm
User Comment = Copyright 2005 (c) Darryl Morgan

[Gordon]

Thats a very bright day on the beach... must be the gleam off that new lens

>>Light Source = Cloudy weather

tell me its not true!
Or do you set it there for warmer tones in the raw image?

Gordon

[kipper]

Well spotted Gordon
I did have to boost it by +1.0EV in Nikon Capture ^_^
Been using aperture priority recently, not used to it. Plus this bird kind of ran along the beach, paused for 5sec, carried on running.

Stubbsy, there is a yellow tint, even though there was a slight yellow tint already. But I enhanced the saturation and it kind of brought out the yellow anyway.

[Gordon]

Well spotted Gordon

I did have to boost it by +1.0EV in Nikon Capture ^_^

ahhhh, all is well in the world of EVs again

Gordon