Simple Spoonie

[John Rowell]

158846

This Roseate Spoonbill was very tame and worked around me for quite a while last winter. I like the calm water providing such a simple backdrop for this image, but couldn't decide about leaving the reflection in or going for a tighter crop. I left it in, will be interested to hear what others think.

D4, 600 mm on tripod, 1/1,250 sec, f7.1, iso 640. The tail was right up against the right side, so added some canvas there, selective detail extractor and tonal contrast to the highlights, lightened the eye area, and cloned out some gunk in the water.

Thanks for looking, all comments appreciated.

[Glenn Conlan]

Well done, the soft colors are nice and the reflection fits well

[Mike Poole]

Very nice pose and I love the stillness in the water. The reflection has to stay as I don't think the shot would work with a crop cutting through the reflection.

Viewing on a laptop so might be wrong, but the frame looks a little bright to me, might be tempted to darken things slightly and possibly gain a bit more detail.

I like your head angle and the way the water blends into the background.

Mike

[Grace Scalzo]

Joh, the color palette is sweet, reminds me of baby colors. Raised foot adds motions. I think that cropping to remove the reflection would feel awkward but I do wish that the dark smudges were not there, you could fix them in post if you so desire.

[Mike Poole]

Scrap my earlier comment - looks miles better on my proper screen.

Mike

[adrian dancy]

I agree with Grace hear. Nice work.

[Randy Stout]

John:

I like the raised foot, eye contact, colors.

My 1st thought was, that the reflection was fairly weak, and the dark spots were less than ideal, but I do agree, that I couldn't find a good spot to crop it.

The plumage is pretty beat up, esp. the neck, but still a handsome bird.
Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful individual, and the raised foot raises the interest. Yes, the reflection may be weak but in this case it is best to leave it in. I would actually prefer a bit more room all around (not much, maybe 10% more).

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image John! I like the pose, light, soft BG, HA, exposure and composition. I would keep the reflection as well.