Nothing better for me than to be in the water along with Big Red, for hours and over three days. Big Red had a mate that would accompany him from time to time, adding more suspense; would Big Red show and would there be a couple of egrets to capture interactions... I love the early morning light and warmth in this image along with such a clean BG. Often as they fish small pools of water there can be a prominent horizontal line that may intersect and distract. His raised canopy wing was just clear of his head and the eye-catching body feathers revealed only more interest for me. I swoon....
1Dx
840mm
ISO 1250
6.3
1/1600
02-26-2019, 07:35 PM
John Mack
Nice to the bird bird in breeding plummage. The pose and low angle make this one. Glad you had this oppurtunity.
02-26-2019, 07:45 PM
Jim Crosswell
Excellent image Ann! I like upper wing position, details, low angle and IQ. My initial feel composition wise was to have a little more room up top but this comp is growing on me.
02-26-2019, 08:07 PM
dankearl
One of your nicest and that is saying a lot...
You have no much DOF and it gives it so much depth.
IQ is superb, nice 3D quality.
Really picky but I could see just a bit taken off the right side.
Beautiful!
02-26-2019, 11:04 PM
arash_hazeghi
I like the hunting behavior, soft light and sharp details. far wing position is great, the near wing not so much wish it was extended forward more...
TFS
02-27-2019, 06:17 AM
gail bisson
This is really lovely Ann. The BG is beautiful with a soft and ethereal feel to it.
Raised rear wing creating the classic umbrella pose is nice and I love the wayward feather.
I am impressed that you got this sharp at 1/1600!
Comp is very pleasing but could see a sliver more added to the bottom for the virtual legs (personal preference issue).
Gail
02-27-2019, 07:47 AM
Ivan Sjogren
A beautiful image Ann! The low shooting angle, the rear wing and a nice light. The exposure, IQ and details all look good. I would tone down the highlight of the upper part of the bill a bit.
02-27-2019, 08:23 AM
Arthur Morris
Sharp and I like the hinting pose though you were unlucky with the near-wing position.A nice bird but not in mega-breeding plumage. On my new laptop where I am (finally) seeing all the tones differentiated on the calibration strip, this one looks quite bright to me. I do like the pano crop and narrow d-o-f.
with love, artie
02-27-2019, 10:02 AM
Raybel Robles
Really like the details, is as sharp as you can get and the action feel in here, but the near wing position doesn't work for me, at first glance it looks like the bird is missing a wing.
02-27-2019, 10:49 AM
David Salem
Very cool classic hunting pose from Big Red! The details look awesome and I like the OOF BG too. Looks just a hair bright on my monitor and it could use a little levels tweak on the dark side. One thing I really liked about my trip to Florida was getting in the water with Big Red!! See ya soon
02-27-2019, 01:35 PM
Bill Dix
Good one, Ann! Classic hunting pose, and I love the far wing framing the head. Nice breeding colors. I wondered if just a few points of black might help?
02-27-2019, 05:52 PM
Geoffrey Montagu
What a great capture, Ann. Love the pose and the pastel colors. Sharp details and nice low POV.