Brant in July!?

[Daniel Cadieux]

I had heard reports of a lone Brant being reported locally, which is unusual for this time of year. If they show up in Ottawa it is usually in late October/early November when they are passing through during migration (with some scattered reports of brief sights in early spring too). I was glad to have found it this morning within 2 minutes of getting out of the car:). I really like the flowers at top, but the yellows were selectively desaturated in PS as they were way too bright and attention seeking. Can you tell this guy is eating grass!:p

Canon 40D + 100-400L @400mm, aperture priority, evaluative metering, 1/250s., f/7.1, ISO 800, +0.3 EC, natural light, handheld, about 80% full-frame.

[Brian Barcelos]

I last seen one of these in late March. Maybe he got lost? Very nice comp here and I like the flowers in the BG, Exposure is spot on and I like the fact that you know he is feeding. Congrats

Brian

[Ramon M. Casares]

I like it, nice comp and light, BG works very well and the touch of color from the OOF flowers is a nice plus, I would only suggest to tone down the whites in the tail as on my monitor there's a little area that looks hot.
Congratulations!

[James Shadle]

Daniel,
Exposure looks correct on my monitor as well as the highlights.
I agree with the flowers at the top. I wouldn't mind a little more, looks like the top of a couple were "pruned".

I'm getting a head ache, my brain is saying fix the horizon. And I know there is nothing wrong with it!
That's what happens when you live in a place with no elevation!

Congratulations on the Brant, I've never seen one in person.

[Ilija Dukovski]

That is weird, you've got a summering Brant, or is it extremely early migrant:eek:
Nothing would surprise me this year, I had loads of shorebirds today, bit early for Boston area.

I agree with James that although the image is leveled the posture is bit awkward.
Nice image though, I like the flowers, they add balance.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Good capture, it looks as if the brant is going to fall on its beak in a second. :) Exposure, sharpness look good, too. I don't mind the flowers in the BG but would run NR on it.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey Peter, thanks for the repost! I did something very similar before opting to leave the flowers in. Those flowers, combined with the ondulating terrain and longer paler grasses made for less of a urban park "mowed lawn" setting that this Brant was found in - a result that I like.