One of my favorite small bird photos of 2018. I was quite close and got a number of shots as it was feeding in the shallow tide water. I happened to be shooting when it decided to take off.
Sony a6500, FE100400GSM @ 400 mm, ISO-200, f/5.6, 1/2500, hand held
Gary, this is working fine now, with the larger version showing great detail in the bird and water. The bits of run off water from its legs are a neat addition. The bits of wing and leg reflection are also fine extras. I don’t know if this explains what happened, but I’ve noticed that it always takes a noticeable amount of time before the larger view becomes available after an upload (maybe 10 - 20 seconds). I see a brief blink of the image and the appearance of the hand rather than arrow pointer when the larger version becomes available for viewing.
Thanks, Mark. I always wait until it “activates” and the hand shows up but this one never did. I finally gave up and checked on it a couple hours later and it still wasn’t working and also wasn’t showing the thumbnail on the Weekly Challenge front page. I think something on the server is locking up occasionally because it has happened a couple times before and apparently to others also.
Really sweet image, Gary. They usually want to take off in the wrong direction and you caught this one at a great point in the take-off sequence. You might look at adding a touch of canvas on the left and top. With this much energy in the bird it would be nice to have a little more room for it to go.
This is a wonderful action shot of the bird taking off, Gary. I particularly like the drops of water coming from the bill and the water trailing off of the legs. The ripples are also a nice touch as is the reflection of the feathers. I like Dennis’s suggestion of just a bit more canvas.
