Black Skimmer Brings Home the Ballyhoo

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1D4
500 MM
Handheld

ISO 500
1/3200
f/4.0

Taken at Nickerson mid August this past year. I liked the view of the ballyhoo (please correct me if that is not what this fish is called). Struggled a little with the color of the white feathers. It was 7:15 p.m. and the light was pinkish-golden. I desaturated a bit via Viveza as the cast looked a bit strong in the original, but didn't want to take it all away as it was how the light truly was. Hope this rendition works.
Sharpening, crop, whites recovery.
Thanks a lot in advance for all comments and critiques.

[Dan Brown]

Super capture, Melissa! Love that pipefish! Very sharp and the bg is nice. I am not sure about the composition, it seems that the upper right quarter is a little empty. I have the urge to push the bird up and to the right a tiny bit. But then again, the bird has room to fly as posted!

[Bill Dix]

Terrific one, Melissa. Love the light and exposure. The far wing position is less than ideal, but the fish more than makes up for it. Comp works just fine for me.

[John Chardine]

Really super Melissa. The composition gives a great feeling of forward movement. Love the colour and lighting, wing position, and sharpness is superb. BG is very complementary.

Nickerson is the place to go in late summer!

[Robert vanMierop]

Lots to ballyhoo about here. I really like this image and I can appreciate how challenging it is to properly expose a Skimmer. The prey of course is a plus, but so, to me, is the environment in the background. I wouldn't change the comp at all.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Very good photo Melissa. The whites are superb- you did well with the color balance. Great environmental shot and a feeling of depth. Nicely done!

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent flight pose of skimmer with fish in beak you have captured.
Love the details in whites,beak color,nice slime fish and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[PhilCook]

Just wonderful photography Melissa, I was watching these amazing birds on david attenboroug a couple of nights ago and you are so fortunate to have these in your part of the world. Dynamic but natural colors throughout, and gotta love the smooth grass/sky backdrop, even the fish....which is distinctly shown including the bill and is what we call " Garfish " here.

Not 100 % certain of the in frame composition....a difficult one...but I wonder if just a little more from the top may look a bit better

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool Melissa! Love the fish and the BG. Good exposure for whites, some of the blacks have lost detail...minor.

I only wish far wing was also raised. very nice image TFS

[vishaljadhav]

Lovely image
The 2 tones in the BG make it stand out, the bird is impressively captured and the whites look wonderful, fish adds a lot to the image
nice over all

[Marina Scarr]

The light in this frame is just gorgeous, and I love the environment and the fish in beak. Exposure and details look good. The far wing cutting through the body hurts this otherwise lovely image.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Melissa, I like these type of images with the subject flying against distant OOF BG's. You seem to have sorted the exposure well enough, sharp, and good to see the complete catch in the bill. Im fine with the comp as is too.

[Tim King]

Nicely done, Melissa. A stunner from top to bottom.

[gail bisson]

Hi Melissa,
I really like this.
I think the exposure is spot on and love the curve of the fish' body and the head position.
Light is wonderful and it makes me feel all warm and beachy!
The eye is well defined which is tricky to do with these guys,
Gail

[Robert Holguin]

Terrific shot!!!!
Very nice light, exposure is spot on, excellent details, love the pipefish, and the grasses in the background.
Well done.

[David Salem]

I like this one allot. The exposure looks great and the detail is beautiful. The Ballyhoo in the beak looks great as we can see its head and eye well. The rear position could be better but it is a non issue for me. Great capture.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent flight shot, Melissa. The fish in the beak puts it a few notches up.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks a heap for all the feedback!

[Frank Schauf]

Great light and flight pose.

[nick clayton]

Great wing position, lighting and colours on this image Melissa. The interesting fish in the beak is what makes the photo.