Royal Spoonbill

[Tony Whitehead]

Spoonbills are not terribly common in NZ so I was pleased to have a small group fly in to feed with the advancing tide while waiting with my daughter for Bartailed Godwits to fly in to their hide tide roosts.
Nikon D700
Nikon 500VR+1.4x
ISO 800, 1/800s f 5.6
LR3, CS4, tonal adjustments with Viveza2
Comments and advice appreciated as always.

[Randy Stout]

Tony:

Soft light gave you a nice wide dynamic range here without clipping. Because he appears to be descending, I like the comp.

I am curious how large these birds are relative to the roseate spoonbills?

Cheers

Randy

[Joe Senzatimore]

One fine image with nice soft light and great exposure. I might try a Pano crop as well , just to be a little different????

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Tony, you have exposed both the whites and the blacks very well. Good underwing detail, and overall nice and sharp. He seems to have his eye on you.

[Tony Whitehead]

I am curious how large these birds are relative to the roseate spoonbill

Unfortunately, I've never seen a Roseate. From the info I have they are roughly the same size. In the field they seem the same general size as African Spoonbills too.

[Gary Jones]

Soft light was in your favour. Good detail and well exposed on blacks & whites. Crop works well.