Red capped plover

[Phoenix]

Just love these little birds.
Started using a new pose for taking shots as my husband is sick to death of all the mud and dirt in the car from me lying belly down in mud.
So... imagine...camera is on my bush hat which is resting on mud.. bum in air while kneeling. Neck twisted so as I'm looking back towards my bum with the top of my head in the mud.
Explains the confused looks on the bird's faces. It's like yoga and bird photography all blended into one. Call it multitasking. I also end up with amazing hair holding substance afterwards.

red capped plover male by Joanne, on Flickr

red capped plover by Joanne, on Flickr

This might be a female
red capped plover female? by Joanne, on Flickr

This one has its mouth open... must be a male.
red capped plover male by Joanne, on Flickr

[Isac]

simply wonderful shots Phoenix. I'm trying to imagine your pose and it's conjuring up all sorts of confusion together with a feeling of wonderment.

[Phoenix]

You are truly too kind.. wonderment is far too nice a word.

[seaslug]

Very pretty little bird delicately done.

[Phoenix]

Thanks Seaslug, I thought these had a nice soft feel.

[Alan]

Beautiful series and well worth the contortions. Pretty little birds and I love how they run

The photos all look a bit flat or underexposed slightly on my monitor - but it looks like it was that sort of day.

Cheers

[Phoenix]

A bit flat? Mmmm... not sure ... lacking contrast do you mean Alan?

[Alan]

Yes, I guess that's what I mean

#1 I adjusted the Curves slightly by adding a slight 'S curve' to increase contrast

and in #2 I did an Auto Levels Adjust which seemed to achieve the same effect

But, as you say, the soft, subtle, delicate effect is wonderful too

All lovely photos as they are

[Phoenix]

The hues turn out nicely with that adjustment. A little more saturated with the tones. Nice work.

[avkomp]

sweet shots. the pastel colours in these realy seem to work a treat. the low angles of course are what really make these. good work

[Phoenix]

I agree... low is the way to go... wish there were some cleaner way... had the gear cleaned recently.. camera people were not impressed.

[avkomp]

use a ground pod?
I made mine from a tupperware dish but you dont need to go that far, can get a plate or even a skillet and put a bean bag on it I put a plastic beanbag in shipping bag so you can keep it dry. slides well over the mud. you dont get your camera muddy and or wet. doesnt stop you getting a wet and or muddy chest though.
this is my ground pod with the wimberley and 600 on it, I also have a spacer that makes it 50mm higher if the water/mud is deep:

this one was from a tupperware nut container that I had in the cupboard and some epoxy I had, but have also made them using the car bog stuff to hold the bolt in the middle.
a friend of mine bought a similar plate on ebay for 10 bucks. to me they key thing is the spacers which gives the thing strength.
got the bolt from bunnings for couple of bucks, stainless of course.
I bought 4 tins of camo colours from my art shop. ultra flat. but lots of places sell it now. green, black brown, light tan. you only need a bit so the paint is left over to make more or paint other stuff. cut out a few stencils to spray camo. kept for later use too.
made about half a dozen for friends.
looks a million bucks painted up. for some reason I didnt think to take a pic of the finished product.

the bean bag is like a u shape, made my own based on the apex bean bag (google it) works good on a car door or similar. even good upside down on the ground pod. I used velcro to close it cos I didnt know how to sew a zipper. fill with the styrene beads from craft shop.

[Phoenix]

Brilliant ideas... sending this to my handyman! Thank you. I have recently just started using my hat as the barrier.. which obviously causes its own issues.