Catcher in the Brine

Wildlife Action Photography on the Great British Coastline. Taken on a very sunny Spring day with unusually still water for the area at Cemlyn Bay Nature Reserv...
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Wildlife Action Photography on the Great British Coastline. Taken on a very sunny Spring day with unusually still water for the area at Cemlyn Bay Nature Reserve on the Isle of Anglesey , off the North Wales Mainland in the UK. This intimate portrait of the life of a native coastal bird, the humble Oyster Catcher ( or Ethel and Ernie's as my children affectionately named them while wardening in their youth ) was taken with as much zoom as possible on telephoto settings on a point and shoot Canon camera to allow for as close a capture as possible without reducing the detail of the image with grain distortion. The natural light was strong and in front of the subject producing a lovely mirroring effect on the water and exentuating the ripple lines of the Sea but the timing was crucial and i sat like most Wildlife Photographers with fingers crossed that the birds would perform and arrive just at the right time when the sun was low enough in the sky to create good light without over exposure or white light glare. Knowing this nature spot well , as I have worked here as a volunteer Warden for many years , does mean that I have enough knowledge of the patterns of bird behaviour and the spots they are most likely to linger in to help get shots like this. The final step was to add to the storytelling and intimate , gentle nature of the composition by doing some minor cropping in photoshop to abide by the Rule of Thirds enhancing the final image. Bird Photography in a Nature Setting.
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