White Stork portrait

[Jasper Doest]

Nothing really special here...but I'm just happy that these magnificent birds are back again to announce spring.

Nikon D300
Nikon AF-S 300/2.8G VR + TC17II
1/250 @ f/8.0
ISO200, RAW
Gitzo tripod

[Robert Amoruso]

Great looking stork. I like the portrait composition. I thought about the lightening the eye but not sure if that would look good here. The lighting made for accentuating the detail in the feahters really well and the BG goes with him nicely.

May not be a very "special" bird but the image is execute well.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the soft light, mood, composition and angle. Maybe a bit less sharpening?

[Doug Brown]

Love the pose and the ruffled feathers, which really stand out against the soft BG. Another vote for slightly less sharpening.

[Jasper Doest]

Thanks guys! I sharpened a bit more than usual as my images appear to be softer on BPN (using FireFox) than they do on my own website or in PS. Is there anything known about this?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thanks guys! I sharpened a bit more than usual as my images appear to be softer on BPN (using FireFox) than they do on my own website or in PS. Is there anything known about this?

I had the same problem with Firefox. Images looked fine in Safari, but soft in Firefox. Clicking on View > Zoom > Reset did the trick.

[Jasper Doest]

Well, that did the trick here as well....THANKS!!!

[Joe Senzatimore]

Great light and pose. Fine portrait.

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely as noted above. Lightening the eye would likely help as the correct EXP for the whites leaves the middles and darks underexposed by one and almost two stops respectively.

Where was it photographed and in what type of habitat? Was it on the ground or perched. On what if the latter?

[Jasper Doest]

Artie,

I'll try to brighten the eye a bit and see if I like it. It does appear that the lightness of the eye differs from one bird to another. I do agree that the correct exposure on the whites might have caused the eye to be a bit too dark, but I'm not sure if it would appear natural, as the eyes are really dark in real life as well. Only when the light catches the eye from the right angle you get to see definition in the eye. Thanks for the suggestion! Here in Holland the White Stork was nearly extincted a couple of years ago and a large national reintroduction program helped bringing them back to normal numbers. Most of the nests nowadays are build on buildings or pole that was placed there during the reintroduction program. This nest was one on a pole. The habitat is close to grassland and meadow, where they forage.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the info. From the image it would seem that it was not too tall of a pole.

[Jasper Doest]

Not too long, but if I tell you I had my Gitzo 3540XLS fully extended, that might suggest I was standing quite high myself :-)