Least Bittern in Hiding

[Gayle Clement]

As we floated along in the small flatboat, with the camera just a couple of feet above water level, I saw this least bittern hiding below the lotus pad. He stayed there frozen as the boat drifted by.

I like this because of the unusual pose. It made me wonder how many other bitterns I'd passed hidden among the American lotus.

Should I crop below the lotus pod or not? I wish there were a bit more distance between the bird and leaf. I couldn't get any lower!

By the way, in south Louisiana we call these plants graine a'voler, the grain that flies. The natives Americans and the Cajuns who came later harvested the seeds for food. The seeds are expelled from the pods when they ripen.

Nikon D700
Nikkor 500mm f/4
Nikkor 1.4 TC-EII
1/400s @ f/5.6
-0.7 EV
Matrix Metering

[Daniel Cadieux]

Quite unsual, and great sighting on your part!! It's a toughie composition-wise because aesthetically speaking there is too much room above and the lotus leaf is overpowering...but at the same time they do tell the tale :-) I think personally I would crop the seedpod and half the thickness of the the big leaf out, but then the seddpod's stem becomes a distraction so some cloning or QM would be in order. Did you point your lens lower to get the perch coming out of the water (if it wasn't too long) ??

I do like the mood captured. The umbrella-like "canopy" is pretty cool :-)

[Gayle Clement]

Hi Daniel,
The original is right below the water line, with the stem rising from the duck weed. The crop was tough. I hated to cut the pod's stem in half. I may try this again, cropping from the top this time and cloning out the extra stem as you suggested,

[DustinFinn]

Really nice pose, nice angle too, I would crop below the pod and then remove the stem - as mentioned, the stem would become more of a distraction.

Nice work from a moving boat...

[Glenda Simmons]

Nice capture of this elusive bird. I'm always thrilled to spot one. They are well camouflaged birds. I saw one this week and watched him eat a fish, but could not get a sharp image. You did a good job with your situation, but I agree with the others, that it would look better without that stem.

[Gayle Clement]

With the change Daniel recommended.