Getting Ready For A Date- Bathing Spoonie in Tampa Bay - Working with TC-17

[Randy Stout]

This fine fellow was imaged in Tampa Bay with Capt. Hames last Feb. I needed some extra reach to isolate the bathing spoonie, so thought I would try the TC-17 again. I have had limited success with it in past, esp. with loons, where the light is often low. But here there was plenty of light, and the 600 tolerates TCs a bit better than the 500 does.

D4 600VR TC-17 f/7.1 1/1000 ISO 400 Gitzo/Wimberley

Post: added canvas on left, small crop up from below, selective sharpening

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Satish Ranadive]

Randy Sir:
Gorgeous bathing pose of Spoonie. Excellent panorama crop composition.
Love the pose,beautiful colors,details,lights and flash of water all around.

Regards,
Satish.

[arash_hazeghi]

cool dynamic pose Randy, to my eyes it looks more sharpened as opposed to something that came from a tack sharp RAW, but I don't think most can tell the difference at this size. So 1.7X is better than using 1.4X and cropping tighter?

the image looks good with dynamic pose and water drops, I wish the wings were fully extended adding to drama.

[PhilCook]

Fabulous Randy, we dont get this species of Spoonbill here, they are spectacular.

So very sharp and well exposed, great clarity in the moving water/splashes, not 100% sure on the extra narrow/wide aspect, my own tastes suggest a bit more top and bottom

[Shawn Zierman]

Excellent light quality, and I really like the way you cropped this.
Nice behavior captured. Wonder if you tried to go for some even
lower shooting angles...?

[Randy Stout]

Thanks guys:

Shawn, I was shooting from a boat, as opposed to the usual standing in the bay for a lower angle. There is a sandbar just behind the bird, and you can see the pink reflection of other birds behind the subject, so lower would have resulted in lots of stuff in the BG.

In general I agree about lower, but it isn't always the best choice for a given situation.

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

I really like this shot Randy and cute title.
Love all those water drops.
I would burn the very bright water drop under the end of the bill. My eye keeps going there.
Lovely light and I like the reflected soft pinks in the water,
Gail

[dankearl]

That is a lot of water!
Very cool bath pose and beautiful colors.

[Nick Palmieri]

Cool capture. I love the action and the ability to see the face and shape of the bill. I like the crop as presented. Slight nit... I may remove the few hot pixels around the water drops under the head. TFS

[Randy Stout]

Gail and Nick:

I agree about the bright spots and will take care of them. Thanks

Dan - they really make a show of it. He probably did the bathing routine for 5-10 minutes straight.

Arash - I wish I had a full wing extension also, but I took several hundred shots during this bathing routine, and never once did he fully extend them while facing me. At least during that episode, lots of splashing, not much flapping!

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, bathing behaviour always produces fun results - every image different. I do like the detail and colours on the spoonie's head and bill, and of course the flying droplets add to the image. Sharpness and exposure both look good.

[Doug Brown]

I like it a lot Randy. Good eye contact and a wing position that really accentuates the pink in the wings. The head doesn't seem as sharp as the far wing, but the splashing action more than makes up for it!

[Raymond Lee]

Great shot! Nice sharp details. I agree about burning (or even cloning out) the bright water drops underneath the bill. I'm not quite sure about this myself, but the pink reflection on the right side may need clean up?

[Peter Dexter]

Agree with Gail about the water droplet below the bill. Wonderful shot, the sense of movement is palpable.

[Randy Stout]

Great shot! Nice sharp details. I agree about burning (or even cloning out) the bright water drops underneath the bill. I'm not quite sure about this myself, but the pink reflection on the right side may need clean up?

Raymond: Thanks for your input! I rather like the subtle pink wash in areas of the background. Represents other spoonies just out of frame, and gives the image some more interest in the water areas, at least for me!

Cheers

Randy

[Tim King]

Nice eye-contact while bathing. Fine job.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Love the water splashes, great bathing pose, great head angle, I really like the comp, and nice details.
Well done.