Lesser Jacana ( for Gail B ! )

[Arno Ellmer]

As a follow-up to Gail's excellent images of the African Jacana , I thought it would be of interest to show the smallest member of the jacana family.
An uncommon bird , shot on the Okavango River , Botswana. Current status : Near -threatened

Canon Mk IV
500mm F4 + 1.4x
f/7.1 Av
1/1600
ISO 640
EC +1/3
Cropped allround.
Some minor cleaning up of bg.
Shot from a boat , hand held.

[Stuart Hill]

Hi Arno,

Love the pose, water droplets, environment in the shot, low angle, great image. May be my monitor but could it take bringing the highlight whites on the flank down a little?

regards.
Stu.

[gail bisson]

Hi Arno,

Love, love , love this picture. Ultra-low angle, mid-stride, uncluttered BG. How did you get so low? I looked everywhere for this bird but was unable to find one to photograph. As you mentioned, they are very rare so that makes the picture even more special.
Are we about to start a "duelling jacana" thread?!!
Gail

[Tom Rambaut]

Love the setting - we have these over here and they are called Jesus birds - they walk on water. Like the raised foot and the eye contact. Agree that the white areas could be pulled back a bit. I love the reds and yellows in this species.

[Bill Dix]

Wonderful shot - head, tail and feet parallel to sensor plane. Great colors, clean bg. You must have been perched on a lily pad to get this one. Gotta love the feet - almost as big as the bird.

[Melissa Groo]

Gorgeous setting, sense of habitat, yet not taking away from the beauty of this bird. Excellent on the exposure and sharpness, such great detail you have here. To get that foot and to get it raised is fantastic! Unbelievable foot. Are they so large because they need to be so they can perch on the pads?

[Ofer Levy]

Wonderful shot!!!

[Karl Egressy]

Wonderful picture, Arno.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose and a very nice display of the enviroment. good details. I might consider toning down chest whites a tad

[PRABIR BHATTACHARYYA]

Arno, liked the shot a lot. Very nice angle. For handheld from a boat, its wonderfully sharp.

[Arno Ellmer]

Gorgeous setting, sense of habitat, yet not taking away from the beauty of this bird. Excellent on the exposure and sharpness, such great detail you have here. To get that foot and to get it raised is fantastic! Unbelievable foot. Are they so large because they need to be so they can perch on the pads?

Thanks for the comments ,Melissa.
Yes ,the feet (toes ) are so large to spread their body weight across the lily pads.These and the African Jacanas are also commonly called " Lilytrotters" .

[Arno Ellmer]

Hi Arno,

Love, love , love this picture. Ultra-low angle, mid-stride, uncluttered BG. How did you get so low? I looked everywhere for this bird but was unable to find one to photograph. As you mentioned, they are very rare so that makes the picture even more special.
Are we about to start a "duelling jacana" thread?!!
Gail

Thanks for the comments ,Gail ,always appreciated !
Yes ,we can start a thread ,I have a few more that I will post shortly ..... I just love these Jacanas.
This was shot from a small ( 4 person) flat-bottomed boat and I was lying down or kneeling and shooting just over the boat's edge.Quite a mission ,with the boat rocking !