Sony A-700, Tamron 200-500mm@500mm, 1/1250sec, f6.3, ISO 200, hand held, 40 PM 6-15-2008
Taken at Quintana, Texas, which is right on the coast near Freeport. This area normally has extensive mud flats and wetlands, however there has been a drought and week after week I witnessed pools shrinking and shrinking until now it is mostly dry mud flats. Unfortunately this area is not connected to the gulf, which is less than 100 yards away, and for a time small fish became trapped in smaller and smaller bodies of water. This was a bonanza for a wide variety of wading birds. Pickings were so good that even the American Avocets delayed their northern migrations so I had the pleasure of photographing them with their cinnamon colored heads, which I've never been able to do before. This image is one of the reddish egrets that was one of the last to enjoy the bounty, but as you can see the background is barren.
Comments and criticism about the image would be appreciated~onlybill
Last edited by WIlliam Maroldo; 06-27-2008 at 11:38 PM.
I think this looks very good. The dominant brownish/yellowish color makes this stands out from most birds photos that I've seen. That color plus the softness make the atmosphere of this photo. The eye of the egret looks sharp. In fact, it looks so sharp that I kind of wonder if it's overly sharpened :D:D Overall, I like it !
Looks fine William and love the wing position You've come up with a good flight image Conditions like that are just perfect for flight both conventional and backlit !!!!!!!!! If anything might want to give a little more room all around !!! Excellent !!!!
love the colors in this one. i have to agree with desmond on this. the eye looks very sharp. in fact maybe too sharp in relation to the bird. the rest of the bird just doesnt stand up or have the detail that the eye does.
Thank you very much for the positive comments. As for the sharpness of the eye. Hum...I went back and looked at the RAW image. It was amazingly sharp in the first place (even a blind sow occasionally finds an acorn). I did use USM on the image, but not very much. I did not selectively sharpen any part of the image. I have a feeling that the eye area was in the focus sweet spot. In any case at least I'm not hearing that the entire image looks soft! Must be making progress~onlybill
Last edited by WIlliam Maroldo; 06-28-2008 at 03:42 PM.
Reddish Egret in Flight
0 PM 6-15-2008
