"These Eyes" (For those who remember or knew the band Guess Who from Canada) - American Bittern

[Dan Busby]

The loons were not cooperating so I decided to paddle the canoe to the edge of the lake where there was a small marsh. Upon approaching I noticed something in the foliage move. I went into paddle "stealth" mode and drifted slowly until the canoe got hung up in the lily pads. I sat for a good 10 minutes without breathing (or so it seemed) and finally this bird resumed its business. I slowly raised the camera rig from the canoe floor and fired a single shot to see if the bird would be alarmed. It definitely took notice but then resumed feeding. A few more test shots and it ignored the noise. Over an hour or so I was able to get a variety of shots of this bird, one of the most difficult of all species I have tried. It was a good day.

Canon 1D Mark IV, 500mm f/4L IS II, ISO:800, f/4@1/500, Manual, AI Servo AF, multi-segment, Hand Held from canoe. Processed in Ps6. Horizontal frame cropped to vertical. Masked bird using Topaz re-mask. Slight diffuse cloning to soften lines of foliage to right of head. Very light work on birds left eye to reduce glare. USM on bird.

Thanks for looking. All C&C welcomed and appreciated.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the feather patterns, sharpness, eye contact and clean BG. Did you get any with more DOF? I would take a little off the left and add a bit up top comp wise. Still a beauty as presented Dan.

[Grace Scalzo]

A classic, Dan. Difficult species, difficult pose, but you pulled it off. Love it.

[Mike Veltri]

Great pose captured.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice Alert pose, good BG. some of the whites look a bit bright to me. I also wish you had more DOF to cover the bill.

TFS

[Marina Scarr]

Nice to see you posting, Dan, and what a great poser you have here. Image looks pretty bright to my eyes. Other than that, this is a pretty powerful image. The eyes are tack sharp and the fact that the tip of the beak isn't sharp doesn't bother me.

[Girish Prahalad]

lovely pose & comp. the eyes are really the center of attraction here.
agree the brightness aspect as mentioned above.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, I really like these type of shots. Love the eye contact, and the way you have framed this. Well thought out. I would like to see a version a touch toned down over the whole image.

[gail bisson]

"These eyes are cryin'
These eyes have seen a lot of loves
But they're never gonna see another one like I had with you..."
I loved and still love the Guess Who! A classic.
I really like this image Dan.
Great comp and terrific BG.
I would decrease the brightness of the BG a bit and see if you can get the tip of the beak a bit sharper.
Well done,
Gail

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

You gotta love those eyes! very nice expore but a bit bright on whites, at least on my monitor. Good background and sharpness. A tad more DOF would have yield the beak more in focus but I guess you did pretty well since you were on a boat.

[Dan Busby]

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Brightness critique duly noted and agreed with! I think I processed this one initially for print (which requires a bit more brightness on a reflective surface rather than a back-lit one).

[Daniel Cadieux]

How cool!! Love this a ton. Great view of these eyes, and perfectly focussed there. BG is very nice too.

Man, that song is older than I am and I still hear it weekly on the radio!