Mirror Mirror On The Pond

[Troy Lim]

~It was a tough morning, the light started off good and got cloudy shortly after. There were birds but not in the position for good shot. It was calm and cloudy.
Vultures were everywhere and sometimes they get in the way the view of your subject. The cloudy weather made shooting at every angle possible. When I saw this vulture was actively looking for something to eat, I immediately put the 1.4TC back on. With hardly any wind at all, the pond was calm. I positioned my height and added a little filled flash. It is a full frame image.

Camera Nikon D3S
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 850 mm
ISO Speed 800
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Return detected

[Randy Stout]

Troy:

Nice lemonade! Sometimes you just have to work the scene to try and get the best out of it.

Good use of fill, subtle. Reflection adds a lot.

I might add a little canvas to the left.

Cheers

Randy

[Marina Scarr]

I appreciate what you were going for here, Troy. While I like the image, I wish for no poop on the bird. I like the reflection but I am seeing a yellow cast in the water. Nice use of flash and yes to making the most out of a difficult shoot. We've had a lot of those lately.

[Troy Lim]

I appreciate what you were going for here, Troy. While I like the image, I wish for no poop on the bird. I like the reflection but I am seeing a yellow cast in the water. Nice use of flash and yes to making the most out of a difficult shoot. We've had a lot of those lately.

Thank you Randy and Marina. I wish no poop on the bird too, but the ones around are just too dirty. hahaha.
The yellow cast was the dirty water, I am not sure why it looks so yellow, my guess would be the cloudy sky that reflection on the surface of the water makes the dirty water (brown) to be less. I will adjust the yellow part and see.

Randy, I actually has another shot that with the bird placed a bit to the right of the frame, but only one leg is showing.

[gail bisson]

Very unique image.
As soon as I saw it I felt there was a slight yellow cast.
Great low POV and I really like the HA.
Lovely lemonade you made.
Do you have an image with a bit more of the birds back included? That would look nice as well,
Gail

[PhilCook]

I like it, he/she has a worried/contemplative look on his/her face, but I guess most Vultures have that look to them with all the wrinkles ....the slight yellow cast I admit to not noticing until it was mentioned, but it is there. I like the comp as is except for even better symmetry I crop a bit from the top removing the bit of wing to perfectly mirror the reflected image.