Unlikely Visitor, by Laria Saunders

I was on the Santa Monica beach in Los Angeles at sunset and saw this unlikely visitor. I had never seen what I believe is a Cormorant on these LA beaches and there were no others around, so I was quite excited to try and capture this sweet bird who did not seem frightened by my presence at all.

Nikon D600 with 70-300mm | 1/250 sec @ f/5.6 | ISO 200 | Focal Length 250mm
Unlikely Visitor, by Nazmul Shanji

Award Winner: Photo of the Day | November 25
Award Score: 68 (Value 12, Clarity 12, Composition 18, Style 13, Skill 13)
Photo of the Day Award Category: Wildlife Photography
Photograph Location: Santa Monica Beach, California | The United States

Photographer: Laria Saunders (Oakland, California, United States) Registered
Laria Saunders is an award-winning photographer from California with a passion for photography that spans three decades. She comes from a family of artists, is self-taught and has a BA from UCLA/World Arts & Culture. She started off as a dancer/teacher until 1998 when she became disabled with Chronic Migraines, Partial Transverse Myelitis and other pain syndromes. Severe pain caused total isolation for many years including seven months of hospitalization and continues to disable her today. Thanks to the support of her partner, James she is able to pursue her love for abstract, nature and street photography and just completed a five-year abstract collection. Laria currently lives in East Bay, San Francisco.

Portfolio: http://www.lariasaunders.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LariaSaunders
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lariafineartphotography