Roseate Spoonbill at Rookery

[gail bisson]

Canon 1DX
100-400 mm at 400mm
ISO 400
SS 1/3200 @f 9.0
Took this last spring while on the Hooptie Deux with James Shadle.
I will post the original because I cloned out a branch that intersected with the foot and tail and trimmed some of the longer branches as well. I don't usually mess with my pics like this but I loved the pose.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[gail bisson]

Here is the unprocessed version.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, love the 'crash landing' pose, especially the extended neck and that the left foot is prepared for touchdown. Great view of the primaries on the left wing too. Ive always enjoyed the colour on this species - well exposed there.

Great job with the removal of the foliage across the foot and on the tail. Nice to see someone else using a 100-400mm. :w3

[Michael F Milligan]

Wow. Really like the richness of the colour of this bird, great shot.

Out of interest, how long did it take you to remove the pesky foliage??

[gail bisson]

It took about 15 minutes Michael. The hard part was the tail feathers.
Gail

Wow. Really like the richness of the colour of this bird, great shot.

Out of interest, how long did it take you to remove the pesky foliage??

[dankearl]

Terrific PP work Gail And a sweet 3d looking landing pose.

[Martin Dunn]

Beautiful job all around Gail.
Neat original capture. The pose is terrific and the wonderful rich pink tones really lift the image.
The way you cleaned it up is also first rate, retaining excellent detail.

I'd be tempted to slightly darken the sunlit part of the neck/shoulder and also the bright parts on the right wing (our right) as I find them a tiny bit too bright, but certainly not a deal breaker.

PS. why is it called a rookery and not a spoonery?

[Bill Dix]

Great landing pose, Gail. Lovely colors. And good PP work. Definitely a case where some cloning was needed, despite your usual preference not to do so. Can't beat the pose and expression.

[Loi Nguyen]

Gail, love the colors and the landing pose and great PP work. Loi

[Grace Scalzo]

Good save on this one...I think that it was worth it! The crash landing pose make the shot.

[Doug Schurman]

Great detail and sharpness. Love the action and the branch removal was done very well.

[keith mitchell]

Gail I could not fault this if I looked all day it really is excellent ,removing the twig was certainly worth it.

Keith.:S3:

[Daniel Cadieux]

Tastefully done Gail. Love the dynamic pose, colours. Even with the 500 I don't think I'll ever part with the 100-400....

[MohsenVahedipour]

Excellent landing pose with lovely colors of the plumage. I also like the different foots position & nice PP work. TFS

[Mervyn Marsh]

Hi gail, I really like this photo and am also an advocate for the trusty 100-400mm for flight shots.. I really like the action in this.

cheers,

Merv