Whimbrels and a Willet - GX85 + 100-300mm II

Taken along Imperial Beach, San Diego. Great place to see lots of different species due to the Tijuana River Estuary being directly adjacent. These shots were taken around midday, so the lighting was not as ideal as it was when I went another time during golden hour.

I have read a lot about the 100-300mm II being soft at the long end, but I'm not overly concerned by it since I always resize and sharpen after editing RAWs. Focus is quick and I have no issue with DFD, as opposed to PDAF, since I'll get at (the very) least 50% of images in focus by using AFC and 6fps. I'll probably write a review on it sometime in the future, but I can, at the very least, say that I think it is a great value lens that gets me the images I want.

Color graded with Kodak and Fuji film simulation CLUTs in Rawtherapee. Comments and suggestions welcome.

Edit: My EXIF info isn't showing, but all of these were taken at F7.1 or F8, 1/1000 and faster, Auto ISO (ISO200 to 250), and 300mm. These were the general settings for

1.

Whimbrel at Imperial Beach (IB). Water is dripping from the middle of its beak.

2.

Whimbrel at IB. Really liked the bokeh on this one.

3.

(Yet another) Whimbrel at IB. This one looks older than the other Whimbrels I saw.

4.

Foamy legs - Willet at IB.

Hi Ben, it looks like you and the birds had a great day. I'm also partial to #2, too. Were you lying in the sand?

The 100-300 II s a great lens (my favorite telephoto) and the GX85 is a fun compact camera. Thanks for sharing.

HRC2016 wrote:

Hi Ben, it looks like you and the birds had a great day. I'm also partial to #2, too. Were you lying in the sand?

The 100-300 II s a great lens (my favorite telephoto) and the GX85 is a fun compact camera. Thanks for sharing.

I was level with the sand that the bird was on. I was standing on part of the beach, closer to the water, that was below the more-or-less level surface the bird was on. I believe I got on one knee for the shot, in order to get more level with the bird (which was keeping a close eye on me). Also, behind the bird is a 2ish meter berm which separates the beach from the TJ River Estuary. Glad you liked the shot, thanks for looking!