A couple of weeks ago I spent some time photographing Golden Plover nesting in the Lammermuir Hills. They are a medium sized plover, which nests on the open moorland and are very wary. This made them rather difficult to approach. By slithering on my belly using my elbows to pull me along I was able to use the surrounding heather as cover to get quite close to them.
I must admit that the image shown here was not the one I initially thought would be my favourite. I reckoned that one of the frame filling close-ups with the bird calling would be the most promising. Although upon reviewing the images on the computer at home I soon changed my mind.
I often use the technique of differential focus to emphasise the main subject by rendering it the sharpest element in the photograph. This is a perfect example as the head of the bird is the only thing, which is truly sharp with everything else pleasingly blurred. The Plover is not large in the frame, but I get the feeling that the image would not work quite so well if it were occupying more of the frame.
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