What an awesome morning at the beach.
Was so humid, had my camera tucked in a diaper bag
_{stop laughing, I had to have a bag I didn't care about, that I could put my clothes in as I knew I was going to need to strip to jump in the water, what would you do?}
Anyway, back to my story......so many amazing seashells, found two sand dollars, never found one of those in my life.
I didn't really expect to get any good shots as I got up kinda late. Seems the Snowy Egrets [link] were hunting for the same thing that I was, seashells. There were a group of them in the water, all of those shots I've already dumped. Then there was this group, just standing on a small sand bar, must have just finished eating, grooming themselves. They let me get kinda close.
My settings weren't the best as the photos came out a bit grainy. I did enhance this in PSP XI, love that program.
Just loved the way this guy was getting ready for, who knows, maybe a bird prom?


Advanced Photography 101 Submission for *Ex-po-zure
by special request from *Cmac13

<sup>Location Outdoors New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Sunny
Nikon D80
2007/08/25 09:54:32
JPEG (8-bit) Normal
Image Size: Large (3872 x 2592)
Color
Lens: VR 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 200mm
Digital Vari-Program: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/1000 sec - F/5.6
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Optimize Image:
White Balance: Auto
AF Mode: AF-A
Flash Sync Mode:
Flash Mode:
Auto Flash Comp:
Color Mode: Mode Ia (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: Auto
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Saturation: Auto
Sharpening: Auto
Image Comment:
Long Exposure NR: Off
VR Control: On
High ISO NR: Off
UV filter only.

This was taken at a very low perspective. I had to lay as flat as I could on my belly to get my camera as low to the ground
as I could. I used my arms as a tripod in the sand to steady the camera.
There were numerous birds, all preening along the shore, it was still low tide and they were standing on a small sand bar.
It was very tricky getting up from this position as I was covered in sand. Hee Hee.


Post Processing:
I use Paint Shop Pro Photo XI for most of my post processing work.
I find it easier to use than Photoshop.
I adjusted the contrast and brightness slightly in this photo to deepen the color of the sky.
Other than that I put a small white border usually about 5px around the photo using the Add Border Feature.









©2006- 2008 M Mollica, All rights reserved
Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.</sup>