Our hotel in Tobago was right on the beach, and had a small flock of resident Turnstones that would regularly run up and down the sand. If they spotted somebody eating something, they came right up to you at your hotel room - they filled the Pigeon niche! They're one of my favourite waders, and their boldness allowed me to take a few shots with a short telephoto, but also at times with a macro lens - the first shot, which is possibly my favourite of all of them, was taken with Canon's sensational 100mm f2.8 IS macro lens - this lightweight lens is a steal for the price, and brilliantly versatile too, for instance it's a wonderful portrait lens. All the beach shots were taken with the handheld 300 f2.8 IS, not so much of a steal sadly, but a lens that hardly ever gets used as I always have the longer one on me - 300mm is simply too short for the majority of bird photography in this country. I rented it for several years, and when I finally got it back I considered selling it, but I found it such a pleasure to use whilst away that I'm keeping it for a little while longer, if only for travel. Paired with the 5D Mark III body, this makes a top class and pretty light travel set-up. The final image was taken with the tripod-mounted 800mm, legs splayed out on the jetty to get to the eye-level of the bird - a hugely beneficial technique that makes bird photos just pop. Not always possible, but I see so many photos that could have been dramtically and easily improved if the photographer had simply crouched down rather than remained standing with the lens angled down. Get down low, even if you get wet - easier when on a beach in the Caribbean for sure! You can get caught out though - I remember kneeling in dog muck on the beach at Southend-on-Sea one winter......Turnstones were the target then too!
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