Lesser Jacana

[gail bisson]

This was a target bird for me as I had never seen a lesser jacana on any of my previous trips.
A pair of lesser jacanas was spotted in this pond a few days before I arrived.
The pond was almost inaccessible and it was only by periodically getting out of the boat and pushing it through the vegetation that we were able to get to these birds.
Scary considering there are lots of crocs around!
These fast moving little birds were so difficult to photograph because of all the vegetation. I spent 3 hours in this pond, shot about 500 images and have kept 6 of them.See image for the challenging environment in pane 2.
They were very skittish so I used my 600 and 2X. ISO 1250 SS 1/100 F 8.o in cloudy conditions
Crop to 60% FF
Commemts and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[gail bisson]

This is a full frame pano shot of the pond.

[shane shacaluga]

Lovely work Gail. I was lucky to see a few of these from a canoe on the Amazon a few weeks ago. Not easy to photograph. Very sharp considering the focal range and the pose is very unique

Also like the bit of habitat showing

Thanks for sharing

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Excellent story, quite an adventure.

I like the comp very much. A polarizer would have been an interesting option here. I must admit that I have had little success with one when photographing moving birds, but I do try it occ.

Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

[Shawn Zierman]

What a pose on this strange but wonderful little bird. In a word, I would describe the OP as "elegant"...Regarding the composition, which is very good regardless, one idea would be to slice just a bit off the bottom to minimize the visual presence of the dark part in the water under the bird at the bottom of the frame...I suppose it is a reflection, though I can't quite make it out.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the walking pose, huge feet, exposure and details. It sounds like you went through a lot to get this image. I agree with Shawn regarding a little off the bottom. Well done under challenging conditions Gail.

[Daniel Cadieux]

That is an excellent picture Gail. A fun read too. You could not have asked for a better pose. That piece of vegetation really balances out the comp nicely. I like the size and placement of the subject within the frame, so for that reason I would experiment in processing out that "reflection" at the bottom before cropping it out.

[Richard Flack]

Super shot Gail and a great bird to connect with

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, great low angle here, and I really like the soft light. Excellent detail and sharpness for such a low ss, and the walking pose shows off their large feet nicely.

There must be some very, very large Crocs in that water.

[John Robinson]

One of your best Gail.
Great"feel" to the shot and the story helps too ! Well done.
John

[Bill Dix]

Great bird -- a new one for me -- and a great story to go with it. Glad the crocs left you alone. I love the soft feel to the image, and the raised foot with that spectacular hind toe tops it off nicely. I'm not sure the reflection adds to the image, and agree with Daniel that it might be evicted rather than cropped.

[keith mitchell]

Gail a dainty bird with those great feet, you have caught it beautifully.
Keith.

[arash_hazeghi]

you got away with 1/100sec! those feet are priceless! I like the depiction of habitat but wish the lone strand of grass was in focus too

TFS well done