Anhinga Stare Down

[Dick Glover]

This bird seemed to want to intimidate my with the fierce stare - maybe it worked.
Taken Jan. 19 at Green Cay Nature Center, Boynton Beach, FL., at about 11:30 am, partly cloudy.
Canon 50D, 500mm f/4 at f/4.5 +.5, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, Mongoose 3.5, Gitzo. This is a 50% crop, with levels, shadows/highlights, etc. in CS4. I may post the full image as it is quite a different effect, but the penetrating, head-on gaze and eye contact appealed to me.

[Aidan Briggs]

I like the soft light, exposure, and intense stair. I might put the bird a bit higher up in the frame.

[Mark Adkins]

Dick,
I like the head on pose but I would have more DOF to get the back feathers and beak more in focus. At 1/800 and a tripod you might have had a stop or so to work with.

Mark