Roseate Spoonbill at Darling NWR

[Dennis Zaebst]

Details: Canon 7D, 500 mm f/4L + 1.4x, ISO280, f/9, 1/1000s, no flash.

Took this in mid-afternoon on Jan. 19. This was one of few birds that didn't have fishing line wound around their bills at the time. I reported the problem to Refuge Management, they didn't seem interested.

Thanks for any observations on this one.

Dennis

[Randy Stout]

Dennis:

Fun pose,foot up, head angle.

I would be tempted to add canvas top, and both sides, right greater than left. Consider increasing the exposure a bit, seems dim to me. The wing seems sharper than the head, perhaps a bit more sharpening on the latter.

How many spoonies did you see at Ding? It has been pretty dead the last of couple of years when I have been there.

Cheers


Randy

[Bill Dix]

Nice pose and head angle. Good color. Could use just a tiny bit of CCW rotation so the end of the bill aligns with its reflection. I'm torn as to whether the reflection is worth including; did you consider trying a horizontal comp without the reflection and with some more canvas to the right, as an alternate view? Too bad about the fishing line -- it's a real problem.

[Stephen Stephen]

Dennis, Randy and Bill have covered most of my comments. I might also try a bit selective sharpening of the bird's head particularly around the eye.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. It seems I am a decent photographer, but I have a lot to learn about post-processing. I really try not to change the photo from what I saw -- the only things I usually do are contrast, overall sharpening, levels, and mild cropping. I did over-crop this one, as has been pointed out:(. I think the most important thing I have learned is to pump up contrast and brilliance just short of where the blacks and whites start blocking up. I have always admired the saturated, slightly underexposed look however -- although the original was properly exposed, I probably over-darkened. As far as the reflection, this is one of the things that caught my eye and that I really like about this photo.

Cheers,
Dennis