Optical Illusion

This image was made about this time last year out at Ft. Desoto. I haven't been able to process any recent images (so busy!), so I'm posting something from the archives. The Optical Illusion is the horizon in this image; because the Reddish Egret is standing on a small incline, you may get the feeling that the horizon is off. When this happens, I square up the horizon and take the angled bird :)

Shooting Solution
Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 80-400VR @ 400mm
Manual Exposure, ISO 400 (that's all I can remember)

Comments welcome and appreciated :)

Thanks for looking!

Bird looks perfectly angled to me :).....feather details are great ,bi colored BG is lovely.
interesting way to solve very common problem with horizon...thx for sharing

looks awesome!! beautiful detail and i would have never known if you hadnt told me!!!!! great job.

Blake it looks like he is in the clouds. Very cool effect!! The colors and details are wonderful. That beachy feeling too.

Beautiful, Blake. The shooting angle and light really shows off the neck plumes. I like the way they are blowing in the breeze.

Really like this a lot Blake. Very beautiful composition with gorgeous lighting and pose, The ruffled feathers really puts this over the top for me.

really like it Blake....the split bg colors keep it from bring boring back there

Great details, angle and pose. It could go a tad darker for my taste.

Love the soft colors and BG (makes me want to take a nap on that beach ;)). Have to agree with Axel about darkening the bird.

James this is really beautiful. From a technical point of view the image is excelent. The pose is nice and you have a great low angle, OOF BG and a terrific light. The thing most I like in this image is the fantastic texture of those hairy-like feathers on the head and on the breast and the light wind from the right side. The color of the feathers is sweet. This one is in my personal selection of best images of the month :)

Juan

Regarding the 80-400VR, I am not sure if my lens copy was defective but not the best lens I have try for flights. On the other hand, on static subjects the results were excellent. the performance of my lens was very different when used wide open and at 400mm but at f8 and under 350mm the lens produced terrific images.

This image says "Hot Florida sun all over it". Or "A day at the beach" Well defined feather details, nice color on the breast. The shimmering bg is a nice touch. Well done Yoda Blake.

This is excellent, Blake. I like how the bg just kinda fades into the sky....perfect exposure and a beautiful reddish.

Gorgeous image Blake! bird really jumps out at you against the subtle background!

Great looking shot. The background and light are spot on.

Gerard