Black -necked Stilt with Predacious diving Beetle Dytiscidae

[kevin Hice]

Shot in local slough in Nd. This bird is way out of it's range. One was reported about five years ago here . This one actually has a nest.Shot in low light conditions at 6.14 am. Did some clean up on the bottom just the bigger darker pieces. Processed with Dpp 4,Photoshop,Neat image on the background.Comments and critiques appreciated.
Canon 1DX 111
500 f/4 L Is
Av 6.3
1/1000
Iso 4000

[dankearl]

Wow. What a nice image. Congrats.

[Brian Sump]

Kevin, love many things about this one, not limited to the composition, bkg colors, leg bend with foot exposed and of course, dinner! Is that a seashell on the bottom right? Whatever it is, I like that too just as a hidden detail that is fun to find.

I'm getting a pretty pronounced pink/magenta color on the bird. Not sure if it's something to do with the sunset or a color cast. In a perfect world, the dark band across would be less discernible. Maybe a tiny more detail in the blacks?

Congrats on a super all-around image though!

[arash_hazeghi]

pretty nice frame Kevin, good details and processing. the pinkish cast it totally natural and from early AM light. wish the BG was cleaner

TFS

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Kevin. I like the walking pose, catch of the day, IQ, exposure and composition.

[John Mack]

Image quality looks pretty good here. The prey item is a bonus. I like the duck weed on the legs. The low angle is spot on.