the real value of open water

[John Chardine]

Birds need to drink even in bitterly cold weather. I set up on this Herring Gull at a pond in Truro, Nova Scotia recently, and picked my moment as she raised her head to down the bill full of water.

The light was already getting low and warm so I decided to leave it as remembered. Not much done other than a rotate to level, crop and sharpen.

Canon EOS 50D, 500/4
capture date: Saturday, 17 January, 2009 2:00 PM
exposure program: Aperture Priority
ISO speed: 400
shutter speed: 1/2000
aperture: f5.6
exposure bias: +0.0
metering: Pattern
flash: off

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Excellent eye contact, the 'frozen' water and comp all make an incredibly wonderful image. :)

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent perspective and eye contact...this gal is cautiously eyeing you! Perfect timing too. I'm finding the a little bit image top-heavy...I'm thinking cropping each side down to a square crop would balance things out. Good eye in seeing this opportunity John!!

[Stefan Minnig]

John,

Very nice sharp shot in the moment. Sometimes I wonder if a bird knows whether it's a gun or a camera pointed at it.

Stefan

PS: No abbreviations needed in this one.

[Robert Amoruso]

Nice work John on this unusual pose. I could go with Daniel's crop suggestion.

[Maxis Gamez]

This is great John. Wonderful eye contact and low angle.

[Jon Thornton]

I like the crop and frozen action. Well done.

[Doug Brown]

Not sure how I missed this one John. I really like the eye contact and the water trailing from the bill. Another vote for a square crop.