Water rail on the turn

[Mike Poole]

179459


A water rail that had been peaceful foraging suddenly made a quick turn and sprinted back to the reeds. I couldn't work out the behaviour until a few seconds later when a sparrow hawk did a low pass over the river. A faster shutter speed would have been better for the leg, but as the face is sharp I'm not to bothered with the movement

Canon 1dx
500mm f4is
ISO 3200
1/1000th f4

Mike

[David Roach]

Sharp where it needs to be. Love the complimentary BG, the low angle and that eye. I think it's DOF rather than motion blur. You were close and wide open. TFS

[John Mack]

The low angle is nice. Love how the water blends into the background. Details look very good as well.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Sharp on the face and neck. Great low angle. I can anticipate the sudden turn to our left. I do seem to see a bit of colour noise on the belly area (did you need to lighten shadows there?). Easily remedied in post.

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Mikey, You did a great job of getting this one sharp. Was the bird turning to our right or to our left? SH and EXP perfect and the posture and raised foot are great.


with love, artie

[Mike Poole]

Thanks Dan - I did lighten the right side of the belly and ran a small amount of NR over it which I rarely do on the bird, but with the lack of detail on the belly I thought I could get away with it. Maybe I'll try again with the PP

Mike

[Mike Poole]

Hey Mikey, You did a great job of getting this one sharp. Was the bird turning to our right or to our left? SH and EXP perfect and the posture and raised foot are great.


with love, artie

Cheers Artie, hope the latest trip was good. He had been going to our left, then turned and ran back to the reeds on our right

Mike

[Isaac Grant]

Excellent rail image Mike. They are super difficult species and you managed one in the open with a perfect background. Top notch Mike!

[William Dickson]

Well done Mike in capturing a good image of this elusive bird.

Will

[Dorian Anderson]

As a birder, I really appreciate good shots of stealthy birds like this! I usually want the whole bird in focus, but this image works wonderfully with all our focus going to the bird's perfectly detailed face. Really nice!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mike, excellent eye level capture here, and the focus and sharpness spot on where it should be. In turn, the detail on the head really shows up nicely. I do like the colour and smoothness of the BG.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

I like everything about this image, Mike. You captured the action beautifully, and the detail where it needs to be. Well done.


Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[David Salem]

I love this one Mike. Its all about the head and the colors and details look fantastic. I like images with narrow DOF as they really concentrate our eyes on the head even more! Well done