When I am out in the field I take a large amount of photos and there are times I don't get around to processing them until much later, these are two such images taken at Fort DeSoto, Florida in 2008.
Because I live far from my family and have no children at home my yearly Thanksgiving tradition includes spending a part of my day out photographing birds, mostly early morning outings.
It didn't take long for me to check my ISO, my aperture and other techs as I dropped onto my knees before laying flat on my belly to photograph the flock of 20 or so Whimbrels.
There are images that I have created that as soon as I see them on my monitor become listed as one of my favorites.
My friends say when my images have such a low angle that I must have been "Down 'n dirty". Well I know for sure I was dirty, I had sand everywhere!
American Oystercatchers are fascinating birds to photograph, They can strike unusual poses and their plumage is spectacular in flight. I enjoyed watching them pry open bivalves with their long bill
Fish Crows are fairly commonplace along the coast of Pinellas County and they are often ignored by photographers because they are a "plain" common bird.
There were quite a few Laughing Gulls on and near the shoreline, a few Ring-billed Gulls and two Reddish Egrets hunting on the beach that day.
Laughing Gulls are quite common on the east and Gulf coastlines of the US, during breeding season they are usually found near saltwater but in nonbreeding season they are known to wander widely.
This Ghost Crab image was taken on the Gulf coast of Florida while I still lived there.
One of the easier medium-sized shorebirds to identify on Fort De Soto's beaches and tidal mudflats are the Ruddy Turnstones. The only other turnstone that frequents North America is the Black Turnstone and it occurs on the Pacific coast.
Proper rotation can make an image work. Improper rotation can cause the the person viewing to wonder what isn't right about an image.
It didn't take long for the Yellow-crowned Night Heron to grab the crab and send the sand flying.