Mirror Mirror (American Avocet)

[David Salem]

Took this in the spring at a spot I call reflection pond. The distant hillside and the water conditions make for a near perfect reflection. I like the feather detail and natural catchlight seen in the feflection.

The biggest problem with this pond is I have been getting allot of BIF shots but half the time when I bead down on a Avocet or a Stilt flying I wind up tracking the silouette. Its almost as clear as the bird!!

Thanks again for looking and your critiques. Always appreciated.

David

[Joe Senzatimore]

That pond is a gem. Just beautiful.

[Tom Rambaut]

I like the full stretch and the working for food action. The reflection is nice a clean - main issue for me is the bird is looking away from me.

[dankearl]

Wow, the reflection is better then the real thing.
Terrific photo, very nice work.

[PhilCook]

Amazingly still water in this and as a consequence wonderful reflection, love the slight splash from the feet in the water, yeah, a little more head turn towards the camera would make it 100% perfect, you'll just have to accept that it's 99.9% instead hehehe

[Shawn Zierman]

Elegant on all fronts and great looking plumage.
Excellent job capturing behavior, light, and form so well.
The head angle is a non-issue for me in this image....looks great.

[Don Nelson]

Wow. I like this one a lot.
If it were mine, I'd spend some more time at this pool. And try to get the HA a little better.

[Satish Ranadive]

David,
Absolutely superb image.Love the pose,colors,details and above all it's reflection.Nice trails of water too.

Regards,
Satish.

[J van Noordwyk]

A stunning image with a perfect reflection verry well captured David.

[HadiAnsari]

David,
Love the pose,colors,details and above all it's reflection.Nice trails of water too.
The reflection is nice a clean - main issue for me is the bird is looking away from me

[Melvin Grey]

A really beautiful image David - are you sure you have it the right way up? No, only joking but that reflection is really amazing. I only wish I could find a location with the problem you described! As Avocets feed by sweeping their bill from side to side I am surprised that you did not have an image with a better head angle. Lovely composition, plumage detail and colour tones.

[Bill Dix]

A beautifully designed image. The bird, reflection, colors, pose and comp are gorgeous. Still, a little bit of head turn would have been the icing on the cake. Maybe just a tiny bit of USM on the head?

[Alan Murphy]

Stunning clear reflection. Well done.,

[arash_hazeghi]

great light pose and details I wish the head was angled towards us

[Jack Breakfast]

Wonderful in all ways. Very well done!

[Frank Schauf]

Great details and clear reflection, a great shot.

[David Salem]

Thank you all for your nice comments and suggestions.

I have other frames with better HA but not as good of reflection.

He stopped sweeping and looked at me long enough for the water to clear then soon as his beak touched the water I got this shot.

Thanks again for looking.

David

[Jonathan Ashton]

A beautiful image - one to be really proud of.

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely capture of this avocet, David. While a better HA may have lent itself to a more powerful capture, this particular pose works welll bc it gives us a good view of the bird and its brilliant colors. The reflection takes is up a notch. I like the metal grey BG a lot.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot. Very nice light, great outstreched pose, and the reflection is just superb.
Very well done.