Reddish in strong wind

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Taken at Merritt Island two weekends ago. Had a great time there with a variety of subjects. Although I didn't get to see the white morph of the reddish, I did see this guy. He wasn't doing the dance he's known for, but instead was staying perfectly still in the high winds. I positioned myself to get him between the two patches of green in the bg, and got as low as I could. His colors were very muted (maybe a juvi?).

Shooting info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 + 1.4x | HH
1/1000" | f/5.6 | ISO 400

[Richard Unsworth]

Like this, certainly captured the wind in his hair
Might try toning it down a little that water is a little bright for me, also a couple of rotation artifacts at top :-)

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Thanks Richard ... wow, can't believe i missed those rotation artifacts!

[PhilCook]

Nice one, but have to agree about the water being a little bright, and maybe a vertical comp would be god as well ......you wouldn't be the first one, myself included who has somehow managed to overlook an obvious editing mistake...it happens

[nick clayton]

Nice subtle light and great pose. The bird is well separated from the background by a wide aperture. The gap behind the bird seems to frame it Miguel.

[Morkel Erasmus]

nice pose and windswept look here!
I like the overall image design - in a perfect world the "gap" behind the bird would probably have encompassed/framed the whole bird

[Randy Stout]

Miguel:

Good move to move yourself for better framing. Not always easy to remember in the heat of the moment.

Def. a juvi.

The water brightness didn't bother me, but a luminosity layer would probably tone it down nicely without a lot of masking on the bird.

cheers

Randy

[Raymond Lee]

Great capture! Nicely composed! The brightness of the water didn't bother me much either!

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
I really love that the wind kicked up its head feathers.
Great pose, very nice light, great comp, and nice details.
Very well done.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Thanks for the comments, all. They are greatly appreciated!

[Sidharth Kodikal]

I love the mood in this one, Miguel. I can feel the strong wind looking at this image :)
You've framed and composed the bird perfectly imo. On my monitor the original looks better in terms of brightness.
It seems that it could use some CCW rotation, but since nobody else has mentioned it, it's probably just me.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the windy look, and the image has an overall cold feel despite it being from Florida. Good comp. As well as the rotation artifacts you could also fill in the small light streak at right edge just above the water line.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Miguel, just love the 'scruffy' look on this fellow, together with all the detail you have captured. Sharp, and I kinda like what Randy has done - subtle change. Im fine with your comp, but you probably know a vertical would work too. I can also see where Sid is coming from with regards to rotation. The water behind the egret seems to need some CCW rotation, but in front it seems fine.