Wood Stork Lift Off

[Robert vanMierop]

July, 2011, Guana Dam, just north of St. Augustine, FL. Made me late for work. Nikon D300, 300 f4 @ f5.6, 1/1600, iso 400. Normally I'd have the Stork in the left third of the frame, but I wanted the water trail off the feet.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g101/bobbyv1/0725h.jpg

[Ron Sprunger]

Very nice image, I'd like to see it posted larger. You can go 1024 across. I think the blacks could be opened a bit and the bird lightened overall. If it were mine, I'd crop just below the rust-colored bushes on the far shore and present it a little more pano. I love the pose, but wish the far wing were down a bit more to present the head and bill more clearly against the background. Definitely don't lose the splash, it's great.

[Tom Rambaut]

I agree with the water trail - it adds to the image. Overall image seems a bit dark. Also the image is a bit small as presented here- sharpness looks good so It would be nice to see this posted at full size possible here - 1024 across in size. Nice eye contact witht he bird and I would play around with different crops as suggested above. TFS

[Robert vanMierop]

Nice suggestions...a little tweaking...

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g101/bobbyv1/1027c1-1.jpg

[Randy Stout]

Robert:

Good timing, like the splash, repost is an improvement.
Ron raised a good point about the wing/head merge. It is nice to get them cleanly separated when possible.

THe pano crop does compliment the scene, and the reflections from the far shore line give enough depth to the scene, so the shore itself isn't needed.

Cheers

Randy