First Image of 2009

[Blake Shadle]

This image was made a few weeks ago while out in the Everglades National Park with Philip Pietri. An Anhinga from Anhinga trail. It was a great weekend. We ran into Judd, as well as Daniel Cedras (gigo) and a majority of the Kendell Camera Club.

There looks to be a glow at the base of the bird's neck. No shadow and highlights were used on this image.

Shooting Solution
Nikon D300 | Sigma 500mm f/4.5 + Kenko 1.4X (700mm f/6.3) | Manually focused
Manual exposure | 1/1250 @ f/6.3 | ISO 400 | Gitzo 1440 and the Mongoose M2.3

All comments welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for looking guys :)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Nice image Blake. :) I particularly like the mix of different colored feathers.

[Tony Whitehead]

Good to see you posting with all the hard work you have put in to the BPN back looking good, Blake. I love the way the BG colours work with the colours on the bird. I really like these intimate portraits.

[Juan Aragonés]

Hey Blake, we have missed your images a lot! The anhinga portrait is fantastic, I like a lot the semiopened bill, composition, Bg and eye contact (by the way, it is possible to see the landscape reflection in the eye). Terrific sharpness. Keep up the good job :-)

[Arthur Morris]

Love everything as above plus the brown tufts of feathers. The only distraction is the dark line through the horizontal center of the images. If you could have gotten higher or lower you might have at least been able to get the line away from the center--to the lower thirds position would likely have been best if you could not eliminate it altogether.

[Ramon M. Casares]

I love everything about this image, the pose, the light, the detail, colors, all looks terriffic, I have to say that I wouldn´t have noticed the line in the BG if not for Arthur´s comment, now that I see it, I agree with him that it would´ve been better not to have it at all, but as I said, I didn´t notice it as a distraction at first glance. Congratulations!

[Grace Scalzo]

Beautiful, Blake. Love the composition.