Yellow Billed Stork

[Ken Watkins]

Found this colourful (breeding plumage) on the shores of Lake Kariba, Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe, 19th September 2011

EOS 1D MkIV

500mm F4 hand-held

F5.6, ISO 400, 1/3200

[Randy Stout]

KEN:

Amazing breeding colors, nice pose, angle in frame, exposure. Just enough of a catchlight to make the eye lively.

A little tight as far as crop, but when shooting in a cluttered environment, I do often crop a little tighter to cut out some of the unavoidable clutter.

I am seeing some color blotches in the upper BG, probably from compression effects.

Cheers

Randy

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Nice and sharp and I like the leg lift. Would prefer a little less saturation in those colors as they already seem pretty nice.

[Doug Brown]

I've never seen one of these birds in person, so it's hard to comment on things like saturation and exposure. But to my eye, the whites look a little gray, and I agree with Cheryl about the saturation. Of course it that's true to life, then ignore everything I've said!

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

I think you are probably right about the saturation, it is a little overdone, too much "pop".

Doug the whites are difficult to comment on as this bird is in breeding plumage, hence the pink glow and the thicker feathers on the neck, but I believe they should be a little "cleaner"