Iced Minnow Buffet

[Raymond Lee]

138872

Hermitage Park, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS + Kenko 1.4x Teleplus PRO 300 DGX + Canon Extender EF 1.4x II.
Manual mode, 1/1000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 640, handheld.

The American Robins and Black-billed Magpies found a small area of thawed water in our local pond, and they were constantly flying in and out to feed on the minnows floating on the water.

For the image above, ideally I would like to have a bit more room on the left. Head angle could be better, but I don't mind it one bit because it also shows the minnows in the beak clearly.

Post-processing: Rotated CW, some curves and levels adjustments on the Robin, cloned out distractions on the ice, then crop in to recompose (note that there's no more room on the left).

All C&Cs are welcome!

Thanks,
Raymond

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Raymond,

I bet they are enjoying life after finding that food supply! This is one case where I'm glad you weren't down at eye level. Like you mentioned, the perspective gives you a clear view of the food source.

I don't see the need for more room on the left, but I could see a better head angle.

Miguel

[Shawn Zierman]

This is a very interesting image. It's cool to see a Robin taking advantage of this feast. You did a nice job handling the off angle light quality. There is a nice visual balance to the elements of the image too. What do you think happened to cause all the minnows to go belly up?

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Excellent image imo Raymond. Looks like the robin is spoiled for choice. He has one in the beak but doesn't seem entirely satisfied with his choice :)
Composed very well, although I could see a bit of a crop from the top and that much added to the bottom.
Wish the light wasn't angled, but you handled it well. TFS

[Karl Egressy]

I find it quite amazing how birds adopt to a situation. Great behavior shot, Raymond.

[Raymond Lee]

This is a very interesting image. It's cool to see a Robin taking advantage of this feast. You did a nice job handling the off angle light quality. There is a nice visual balance to the elements of the image too. What do you think happened to cause all the minnows to go belly up?

Perhaps the world is coming to an end? Just kidding! I suspect it's probably similar what happen at Lake Isle, located west of our city: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Alberta+fish+kill+this+year+could+worst+ever+with+ video/9620311/story.html

[Sandy Witvoet]

YIKES! One HECK of a capture Raymond!
I don't think you need any more space on the left... maybe a bit off the right (there are plenty of minnows) and top (just where that bright area is). Robin's back looks the slightest bit washed out.
This is SO unique! I have NEVER heard of Robins "fishing"! (even in the winter, when they usually switch to left-over berries.)
As to the minnow die-off.... got a newsletter from our DNR here a week or so ago... they said to expect a rather large die-off of fish due to lack of oxygen in our heavily frozen lakes this year.
You took GREAT ADVANTAGE of a most unusual happening. Amazing.