This Australasian Darter (Anhinga) took on the task of swallowing this monster, and lost. Got quite a few shots of the antics while it was trying.
1DXII 600mm F/4L III 1.4x III 840mm HH
1/2000 f10 iso800
Cropped from horizontal, levels, S&H, light sharpen, NR BG, removed a couple of grey patches in the water PS2019.
Edit: for the curious the fish is probably Indo-Pacific Sergeant (Abudefduf vaigiensis) family Pomacentridae
Last edited by Colin Driscoll; 08-16-2019 at 04:29 AM.
Hi Colin. For me this is your best shot to date. Great action...plenty of Darters here in Brissy, but never seen one doing this before. The light is a little harsh, but it's sharp where it needs to be. If it were mine I'd crop a little more off the bottom and up the exposure on the fish's head. Well done!
Thanks. Paul, I did lift the fishs' face and probably got the best out of it. Jonathan, no they weren't blown, just a bit of careless processing on my part, an easy fix.
This is a killer scene and tells a pretty sweet story. I also really like the soft banding on the water behind. However, the harsh light and blown whites are related and significant issues. I'm having a hard time getting past those despite
the action.
Thanks for prompting me to be more careful and patient with my PP! Here's a re-post that might be an improvement. It's all there in the RAW image, I just needed to treat it better.
Pretty cool shot! From an artistic standpoint I like the curve on the back of the fish following the curve on the anhinga. Also nice to see both eyes. Second image is definitely better. On my calibrated monitor, I find the blue could be desaturated a tiny bit. Excellent job on the water.
A terrific scene indeed! The darter seems proud of its catch. Harsh light, but you did as well as you could under those circumstances. Very appealing blue BG.
This one is the best of the series for me. I have been working from new down to older.
with love, artie
ps: it is great that you hammered this situation!
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