Reddish Egret Fishing

[gail bisson]

The egret did get the fish.
I just love the crazy dance these guys do as they get close to the fish. You would think it would scare the fish away as they zig and zag left and right, neck feathers flying in the wind and assume" the umbrella" pose with their wings.
Canon 1DX
600mm
ISO 800
f 7.1 @ 1/2500
Crop ~ 10% (90%FF)
Alafia Banks, Tampa Bay with James Shadle on the Hooptie Deux. 5:17PM
PP: Crop, NR to BG, levels, boosted saturation +15, DE at 5% to underwings and 3% to rest of egret, USM to Jpeg.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[Grace Scalzo]

Quite sweet! I like reflections of the water on the wings, and the open beak. Not an easy image to create given the speed of these birds.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Gail,

Even as big as they are, I agree with Grace that they aren't the easiest to track. Very nicely done! I've always wondered if the wing flaps are for shade or balance (or both?). Either way, you captured it perfectly here.

Miguel

[Greg Oakley]

Very nice Gail - great timing in this, and the wings up really adds interest

[keith mitchell]

Gail you have certainly caught the action with this fine shot, like Grace mentioned not an easy shot to get.

Keith.:S3:

[Bill Dix]

Great action captured, Gail. You caught the perfect moment of umbrella pose and strike. Impressive that you did so at 90% of FF. I've noticed with my few Reddish Egret shots (none as fine as this) that they often look a bit pale. It is probably because that's the bird's natural coloration. But I still wonder what this would look like with a few points of black added to the neutrals.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, love the 'umbrella' wing position, together with the bill partly submerged. Good DOF from wing tip to wing tip, and overall nice and sharp.

Good to hear that he got his meal - no doubt you got that shot too. :w3

[Robert Kimbrell]

Thats a beautiful pose Gail. You got a nice angle to show the underside of the wings. As grace pointed out I like the water reflections on the wings.

[Girish Prahalad]

lovely shooting angle & pose. DOF & details look great.

[David Salem]

Hi Gail, nice looking shot of this classic hunting behavior and I like the pose and the HA on this one. Yes, they are faster than you realize and you did a good job capturing the action. Looks a little bright on my monitor. Nice as usual!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the wing position, reflection under wing, sharpness, exposure and composition. Well done Gail!

[Frank Schauf]

Fantastic. Wonderful pose, colors and background.