AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER WITH CATCH

Bold colours make oystercatchers very pleasing subjects to photograph. In this case, harsh midday light and a pale background of volcanic sand required me to process the RAW file twice at different exposures. The resulting two files were combined in Photomatix to restore the scene as I saw it, correctly exposed throughout. I originally made a series of many images using continuous shooting and a high burst rate. Probing the sand with its long beak, it was obvious that the oystercatcher was foraging. What my eye could not see at the time was that in this frame a tiny crustacean is being tossed within its beak.

F/7.1, 1/1000th second, ISO 200
Accepted: Port Talbot 2015