Magnificent Frigatebird - Male Juvenile

The Magnificent Frigatebird is possibly my favorite species of bird. It holds true to its name "magnificent." I have been photographing them for a number of years in the Tampa Bay area.

This is a juvenile male, and you can see that his pouch is beginning to form. It's interesting that it starts out as blue and then turns to vivid red!

This one was shot handheld while standing knee deep in the water.

Canon 40D, Canon 300L F4 IS
F8, 1/2000, ISO 500,
hand held, almost full frame

C & C welcome & much appreciated,

Marina

Nice exposure and details. I like the crop too. Didn't realize these guys could be so approachable! There is a barely visible (but still there) dust bunny in front of the bill.

Beautiful juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird specimen.
The image is very sharp and well exposed. I like the composition, however I would like to compare another with a little off the top.
Based on the color temp and location of the catch-light, it looks like you captured this when the sun was fairly high in the sky.
The catch-light is what it is and where it is. I do feel warming the image up would have a positive impact.
Thanks for posting ,
James

Excellent exposure control. Like the details.

Marina, Very nice capture, sharp and like the postion. Whites look good too.
Jean

Fabulous image Marina. Love the intense look and is that a drop of water on the bottom of his bill? I would not have noticed the dust bunny if Daniel hadn't have pointed that out. He does look like he was a little higher than eye level, but the image is perfectly exposed and the whites are spot-on. Congrats! :) I do wonder how he would look 'warmed up' a little.

The repost has been warmed up and has some cropped off of the top and a little on the right. Hope you like it better. I sure do.

As far as time of day, this shot was taken at 7:44 am. A few moments before this shot, I still remember there was barely any light. Then all of a sudden it broke through in a big way.

I think the "stuff" on the bird's lower bill is some kind of slime. Left it in b/c thought it added another element.

Thank you all for your advice,

Marina

Simply stunning Marina! :)