Anhinga male (breeding plumage and colors)

I captured this image at the rookery in the alligator breeding pond at Gatorland, Orlando, Florida. I have been working on adding titles, captions, key words and archiving my files. I started from scratch and reworked this image to better suit what I like in an image now. For those unfamiliar with Gatorland, the first impression is of an overdose of breeding and nesting birds. Too many birds, bad backgrounds, dappled light from shadows, but if one is selective quality images can be found. The birds are most times very close, so a very long lens is not needed. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 330mm (495mm FFE)
1/250 F/8 Matrix Metering +1/3 EV ISO 3600, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped for composition and presentation

Gatorland certainly worked in this case Joe you have some beautiful detail and colour on this, is that a natural white line between the eye and the tip of the bill?

Keith.

Beautifully processed a very appealing image, the focus is ideal, your searching for a clear background works well.

Very nice indeed Joe Beautiful light. From the back/side ?
Cheers
John

One of my favourites from you Joe. Great pose, the tight crop suits the shot well. Arguably could use a touch more room on the right, but not too much.

Mike

well dine and you are right reg gator land

Hi Joe, great side angle/perspective, especially with the light coming through the bill, a real regal pose. To me the FP looks not on the eye but more to the back of the head as the feathers look sharper. Not sure how far you can push the ISO here, but just watch that SS, however if the FP was on the eye... killer backdrop, gorgeous.

TFS
Steve

Hi Joe, well exposed, and love the splash of green around the eye. Is the lighter plumage coming out the neck moulting? Killer BG.

Very nice Joe. I love the colours around the eye and the bird blends great with the BG. Nice detail

Will

Focus point is definitely on the hairs near the "ear" area as Steve points out, I'm sure an extra round of sharpening around the face would do well at least for web presentation. I love the pose and BG. Neat subtle backlighting too.

yes joe well done

I like the breeding colors and complimentary BG. Nice image Joe.

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.

Addressing your questions and comments:

Keith, as near as I can tell the white is a specular reflection on the bill. I made a virtual copy and removed it in Photoshop but I liked the original with it better.

John, if I remember correctly the light was from the right side behind me.

Stu, the tufted lighter plumage is only there during breeding. Decoration for the ladies I guess just like the color around the eye and lore.

Steve and Daniel, the active focus point was just below the eye, it must have drifted off the eye during the burst of three images. I think that the tufted lighter feathers look sharper because of hard edges which sharpen more than the soft edges around the eye.

Excellent portrait. Beautiful colours, great details and nice composition.

Regards,
Satish.