Piping Plover

This fellow was outside of a protected fenced in area for nesting. So was I. An endangered species.

40D, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, 1.4 ex, ISO 640, 1.1600, f/10

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Cute bird!

I'd like to see it with a bit more contrast to make the texture of the sand jump out.

Joe, I noticed that your ISO was at 640...just wondering if that is what I see giving the photo some noise?

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

joedlh wrote in post #5611470
40D, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, 1.4 ex, ISO 640, 1.1600, f/10

If it were me, I'd open up the aperture a bit more to get more separation of the subject from the background. That would also give you more light and let you drop the ISO.

Could be noise, Flo (Gail?). However, I can't tell if it's noise or sand grains. I had the ISO set at 640 because I was also shooting terns in flight in the same location (I'll post one tomorrow). The image is a substantial crop, as the plover is a very small bird and was about 30 meters away from me. I don't have the acknowledged wildlife hardware because I have chosen not to make the $5000 investment for what would be for me a limited use lens and darn heavy to be hiking around with.

To answer another poster, the critters were in constant movement. I decided to spend my time trying to grab the shots (filled up a 2gb card) rather than fiddling with the camera controls.

I understand totally about investing in the $$$$.I do the same.matter of fact, just deleted about 30 shots of a woodpecker.lol..had the short lens....