Marbled Godwit foraging - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA

Silhouette of a Marbled Godwit foraging in a shallow water

Marbled Godwit ( Limosa fedoa ) foraging - Hilton Head, South Carolina, East Coast, USA

This photograph was taken on my recent trip to the Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Once again, I was in awe seeing how this particular beach looks like at the golden hour with sun very low on the horizon. After first few days photographing closeups of birds feeding along the water line, I’ve decided to change my strategy for the remainder of my trip and photograph with a “wider” lens. This allowed me to include more of the bird habitat. As you will see in upcoming weeks, when I share more shots from that trip, it is actually a great choice to have a smaller zoom lens with you. This particular spot is simply spectacular at the right conditions.

If you are driving down to Florida this Winter or if you want to photograph shorebirds at Hilton Head Island, I would highly recommend to check out my newest guide: https://www.greggard.com/location-guides/shorebirds-hilton-head-island-south-carolina Here you will find a lot of information on how I photograph birds at this location. I share there my strategy for morning and evening shoot, tips and tricks, lodging information, all that to give you a great start with the very first visit or to improve your photography there.

Close-up of a Marbled Godwit searching for food at the golden hour with sun behind

As you can see, the same scene looks much different depending on how you crop / frame it. My favorite is the vertical crop and very wide view of the first image as well as the closer look of the second one. Even though horizontal version also looks good, I believe that bokeh circles in the foreground in the first photo add more interest to the scene.

horizontal version of the same photograph

What do you think?

As a side note, I had to tone down the saturation a bit as colors were very intense that day. I will post some photographs taken with my phone soon to show you how spectacular this place can be.

Needles to say, I highly recommend on visiting this spot at least once this Winter.

If you are interested in visiting this magical beach on Hilton Head Island, SC check out my information packed guide / ebook: https://www.greggard.com/location-guides/shorebirds-hilton-head-island-south-carolina

You can also find me on:

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Here are some of my favorite shorebird guides for a quick read (to save money buy used books):