Glossy Ibis

[David Ornstein]

This juvenile glossy Ibis was feeding very actively at Mrzak Pond in Everglades NP. I chose a relatively slow shutter speed and got the blurring of its rapidly moving head that I wanted, but I don't like the "quality" of the blur I got. Overall, there seem to be many things wrong with this image. I need help recognizing them and learning how to avoid them in the future -- thus the decision to post a "not my best" here.

Thanks.

It was shot on a partly cloudy day at about 5 PM a few days ago. I used a 600mmL f/4 IS with a 2X teleconverter on a 1D Mk iii on a sturdy tripod and head. The sun was at about 10 o'clock, about 30' above the horizon

[Jim Poor]

I see what you were trying to do here, but I'm not sure the intentional blur works as well with a stationary bird as it does with on in flight.

On a positive note, I really like the colors in the water.

[Robert O'Toole]

Almost.

Blurs are difficult to get right and usually a sucess rate is very low. In this case since you had good light, or it seems I would have preferred a sharp image. Blurs also work better if the subject moves at a steady speed across a background so the BG blurs and subject is sharp.

It looks like the light angle was off somewhat. The processing of the image looks poor as the image is thin and poorly saturated.

Robert

[Axel Hildebrandt]

To give you some feedback, it would be great if you could post some techs, particularly ISO, shutter speed and aperture.

[David Ornstein]

Of course you are right, Axel. I just plain forgot to put it up.

Exif IFD0

* Camera Make = Canon
* Camera Model = Canon EOS-1D Mark III
* Picture Orientation = normal (1)
* Last Modified Date/Time = 2008:02:20 14:381

Exif Sub IFD

* Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/80 second = 0.0125 second
* Lens F-Number/F-Stop = 8/1 = F8
* ISO Speed Ratings = 200
* Original Date/Time = 2008:02:17 17:05:01
* Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 6321928/1000000
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/80 second
* Aperture Value (APEX) = 6/1
Aperture = F8
* Flash = Flash did not fire
* Focal Length = 1200/1 mm = 1200 mm
* Image Width = 800 pixels
* Image Height = 640 pixels

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thanks for the EXIF info. Generally, I would rotate a little bit CW and crop some off the top. I think it would work better if the head were sharp and for example blurred wings.