Minster Beach Today

[Mike Farley]

On Minster Beach earlier today while the mudflats were exposed by the tide. A redshank if my Internet searching has yielded the correct identification.

[davidb]

On Minster Beach earlier today while the mudflats were exposed by the tide. A redshank if my Internet searching has yielded the correct identification.

Mike, identify correct. How much cropping was needed? The photographs I've taken of this (and some other birds like the Lapwing) with my 100-400mm required a big crop to get a decent view of the subject!

[Mike Farley]

Mike, identify correct.

Thanks for the confirmation.

How much cropping was needed? The photographs I've taken of this (and some other birds like the Lapwing) with my 100-400mm required a big crop to get a decent view of the subject!

My experience was similar. I used a 100-400 at full stretch mounted on a Fuji X-E2 which gave me a 1.5 crop factor for a bit more reach. I could have used a 1.4 converter as well, but on an overcast day did not want to lose a stop of exposure. The birds on the mudflats were very skittish and flew away long before I reached a point where I could have filled the frame. This was one of the better results. Below is the original shot straight out of Lightroom with no processing.

Redshank as shot

Redshank as Shot.jpg (90.26 KiB) Viewed 2209 times

Here's another with the redshank doing a kind of ballet as it feeds.

Redshank Ballet

Redshank Ballet.jpg (79.19 KiB) Viewed 2209 times

[davidb]

Mike

I like both shots.

I usually do my wetlands photography at WWT Barnes where the closest you can get is governed by the hides provided. Whilst one hide overlooks the mudflats an extended 100=400mm (total 560mm) still leaves a bird in the centre of the frame to be dug out in post. I do tend to use the Canon 7D mk 2 these days but it's been a while since I last visited Barnes. I've been trying but weather and other reasons have stopped me. Hopefully I'll manage it in the next week or so!