Purple Heron in arrow style

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Shot in overcast windy conditions in what used to be one of my favourite places to go birding . This is from Uran , which is near to Bombay , and was reclaimed by the corporate giants and the government to make 'Special Economic Zone' . 4000 hectares of prime bird nesting grounds gone in a matter of months .
http://www.thewildside.rakeshdhareshwar.com/wordpress-3.0.1/wordpress/?p=167

Camera : Canon 1D MK III
Lens : Canon 600mm f4 IS , 1.4 TC
Aperture : f8
Shutters : 1/160
ISO : 200

Regards,
Rakesh

[Ron Sprunger]

Oh man! That is one terrific image. Good detail in the whites and blacks, great background, striking pose. Was it windy? That's some massive beak considering the small head. I expect there will be a preference for the head turned a little toward the camera, but I'll happily take it as is.

[Randy Stout]

Rakesh:

The wind blown crown really adds greatly here. It made me come back to look again several times, which is good. The fact that the feathers are in a circular pattern also adds a bit of extra attention to the eye/face.

Yes, head away a bit, but it works well overall.

Sad about the loss of habitat. What we do for 'business " is so short sighted.

Cheers

Randy

[Sandy McMillan]

What a beautiful image.
I was so saddened about the destruction of this wonderful place.
It is indeed a great loss.

[Dan Brown]

Very artistic image, Rakesh! Great bird. The BG looks a little noisy to me, easy to fix.

[jack williamson]

Cool image, very cool hairdoo. Just the neck and head works well here. I see the noise, a couple rounds of nr would make the BG. Sorry about your loss, governments are very good at constantly doing the wrong thing.

Jack

[Dave Leroy]

Too bad about the loss of habitat.
I really like the wind blown look and lovely habitat.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Rakesh, very unique with those two feathers. a round of usm will help. wish I had checked out that spot in the past. sad.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Love the split of the crown and interesting neck colors. Nice bg too.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Terrific hairdo and bg Rakesh. A bit of sharpening on the bird and NR on the bg would work.
Uran was such a tragedy. From what I've heard they have their sights set on Karnala now :(

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful head shot. Love the background, great detail, and real nice light.
Well done.