Through Rain... the Mother Wood Stork Sits

On the last afternoon of the Canon 40D gig at St. Augustine it got black as we finished the (grueling) interview stuff. Our plan was to head out to the boardwalk for some more stuff of me photographing. It would take the local video crew about an hour to pack up and move the 100 or so yards so I went out with me 70-200 f/4L, the 1.4X II TC, the EOS-40D and the 580EZ II flash mounted right on the camera (with Better Beamer). Within a few minutes it was a torrential downpour. Rather than give up on photography I headed up the ramp and took shelter under the small roof at the entrance to the Gomek shrine. From there, I created this image of the mama Wood Stork protecting her three chicks from the deluge.

ISO 1600. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/160 sec. at f/5.6. Lens rested on railing at 208mm.

And yes, this is not a typical BAA image.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

"Not typical". Yet wonderful. Moody, powerful. Anyone who has parented will relate to this image, I feel.
A couple small things...I'd deal with the oof bright green leaves lower left, Trim from the right, just beyond that little leaf cluster, lower right, maybe a smidge from the top. (I offer these ideas humbly, hope you know that. )

Artie, I like how much room you left at the top as that accentuates the downpour but Agree with Grace on getting rid of the OOF leaves in the FG.

I like the story and unusual photo.

I actually like the o-o-f leaves in the llc. It's the two sharp leaves in the lrc that I almost took out... IAC, thanks for posting here.

Hi Artie,

I like the rain and mood on this one. The twig right in front of face is a huge distraction. With that said, I think you did a good job keeping everything in focus at such lower speed.

Definitely a moody image, Artie. I am not bothered by the oof leaves. I do think the bigger twig is a distraction for this image. I like the lighter bg to the right as it seems to give a lot of perspective to the image as well.

Murphy's Law of Nests: every bird nest has one large branch or twig in the same place. This nest has the big one half way down the bill and then another crossing one in front of that one. Do notice how I carefully chose my perspective to give a clear view of the eye...

OK, OK, OK. I give. Using mostly Quick Masks a la Robert O'Toole's APTATS this brnach removal took almost 30 minutes. Was it worth it??? I am not even sure that I like it better... Why? This image is more about mood than details...

Great mood, Artie. I really like the way you captured the streaks of rain. The bird looks like it's just gutting it out. After some thought, I like the repost better. Why? Because I find that the large stick in the original draws my eye - draws it away from the mood that is the point of this image. Nice Quick Mask work!

Much better.

I'll go out on a limb (sorry!) and say that I like the first one better. Again, mood. The branch gives the feeling of her being penned in, kind of adds to the suffering. I still don't like those oof leaves lower left, not because they are oof, but because they are bright. I get all dark and moody, and just don't feel them. But that's what makes every image unique.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grace Scalzo

I'll go out on a limb (sorry!) and say that I like the first one better. Again, mood. The branch gives the feeling of her being penned in, kind of adds to the suffering. I still don't like those oof leaves lower left, not because they are oof, but because they are bright. I get all dark and moody, and just don't feel them. But that's what makes every image unique.

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And every person too...

Ohhh....How could I miss this image?

I have been trying to shoot large animals like Tiger, Gaur, Bear etc in rain. I had no reference to draw inspiration from. I have shared some images shot in rain in the wildife forum.

I love this one. You have managed to nail the eye. I find that very difficult in pouring rain, especially when the animal is moving. Without the branch the nest appears to be too exposed (from the birds perspective). From a photographic point of view, it definitely helps. Did you use AF or Manual focus. Thanks for sharing.

Glad that you found it. I had the lens on a tripod under an overhang. I used AF to focus on the eye and then turned AF off.