Wood Stork

[gail bisson]

Taken at Estero Lagoon, Fort Myers on Artie's SW IPT. Cloudy, with sun trying to break through, and cold, cold day.
Canon 1D MK IV
f 500mm
ISO 640
ss 1/1600
F 6.3
Almost full frame ~ 15 % crop and rotated by 3 degrees
PP in LR3 and CS5. Cloned out a branch in RLC
This guys are so ugly but they deserve some "airtime" as well.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

But they are elegantly ugly! I posted one last year and titled it: super model gone horribly wrong! Parts of them are lovely, others not so much!

I really like the matching head and foot positions. Soft, even lighting.

Cheers

Randy

[KevinStohlgren]

Cool feeding shot and I like the raised leg, but I'd prefer to see more (or all) of that amazing beak.

[Dan Busby]

Hi Gail. Yes, ugly perhaps but I love them! They have lots of character and for sure deserve some airtime. I'm glad you showed the foot but my experience was that it could go with a bit more vibrance or saturation. Terrific IQ and I like the comp. I'm glad you got a tiny sparkle in the eye despite the weather.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, the overcast conditions have brought out the whites nicely, and good to see the green sheen on the near wing. Great feeding pose with the bill tucked in the water, together with the raised foot, and just love the sharp detail on the head. I do hope you have a full body shot showing the bill. :w3

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool! you had good soft light

[jack williamson]

Fine IQ, fine darks and whites, sharp and well placed. I like cloudy.

Jack

[Daniel Cadieux]

Man, that foot sure looks like a hand! Perfect exposure, and I like the feeding pose. I could see a bit more room above but OK as is. A lower angle would ahve been nice too, but I know that at that location it is easy to introduce unwanted elements into the frame by doing so. Hope I see these guys in April!

[Andrew Merwin]

These birds have character & I think you have captured it very well. I like the raised foot & the feeding behavior.

[Frank Schauf]

Nice composition and excellent expsoure control and sharpness.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Gail,
I use the term pretty ugly! Whites are great as is the angle. The black become more showy with low light but all in all a very nice capture!

[Robert Rommel]

Great composition and light on this ugly stork :S3: I love the foot position, but they have such a long beak that I would like to see an inch or two more of it. All the technicals are spot on, thanks for showing!