Killdeer

Very nice close-ups, Trevor.

Nice shots. Looks like you had to make the sacrifice to get muddy for these pics.

nice, sharp shots... too bad there wasn't a catch-light in the bird's eye in most of them...

squirl033 wrote in post #17600702
nice, sharp shots... too bad there wasn't a catch-light in the bird's eye in most of them...

I'm not sure why there is a catchlight in one but not all. I guess it was just the angle I was shooting?

ed57gmc wrote in post #17600626
Nice shots. Looks like you had to make the sacrifice to get muddy for these pics.

I bought myself a $7 tarp a month or so ago. It has been one of the best things I have bought in a while. Not only does it protect my clothes, but it helps slightly to displace my weight, so I don't sink as much, the mud at this marsh is particularly gooey and deep. SO even though before I didn't really care about my clothes, or getting muddy, I did give a second thought to the general grossness of the poo saturated mud. Now I don't even think about it, I just get down there.

It has the added affect of calming my subjects, just by laying prone on the ground. There is no doubt the killdeer saw me, but must not have seen me as a threat. Case in point; shot #1 is not cropped, it is full frame, and killdeer are not very big. So it was pretty much minimum focus distance, which is 3.5 feet for the 400 5.6. I could have almost reached out and grabbed him/her. Ther were moments where it got so close I couldn,t focus that close and changing lenses wasn't possible without moving too much and scaring it away. Although I was thinking hard about attempting to put on an extension tube.

Those are some really great shot, must have been to be that close too. Number one is real nice but then they all are, grand set again, well earned I would guess!!

Beautiful shots Trevor, really good detail.

Nice photos. Coincidently, this morning, I took a few photos of the pair that has been running my dog all over the yard with their broken wing routine. They do fine here at 115 degrees.

Awesome shots Trevor. I saw them on Flickr earlier.

BTW: the mfd on the 500 5.6 is about 12 ft.
Still super close for a skittish Killdeer to be. They don't like to be within 35 ft of me. Even on the ground.
Keep it up!