A wing, literally, for Wednesday. This endangered Piping Plover clearly does not realize its status, as it was on the open section of the beach in Kennebunk Maine, in among the early fishermen and the very early sun bathers…though it was hanging out in the relative safety of a bit of sand in the rocky section of the beach.

For this full frame shot I was experimenting with the digital zoom on the Nikon Coolpix P500, running it out to 1296mm equivalent field of view (810mm optical x whatever digital). Prior accidental experiments had indicated that it might actually work, and I am quite pleased with the results. Not equal to a behemoth lens on a DSLR, but pretty good! thank you, for a camera and lens that just about fits in a photo vest pocket.

The following shot was taken at the normal 810mm optical, and then cropped slightly for composition and scale. It is also very satisfying, considering. (If you are pixel peeper, you can view them as large as you like up to full resolution by clicking the image and using the controls across the top of the Smugmug lightbox page.)

Nikon Coolpix at the stated equivalents, 1) f8 @ 1/800th @ ISO 160, 2) f6.3 @ 1/1250th @ ISO 160. Program with Active D-Lighting.

Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness. #2, as stated, cropped slightly from full frame.

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