Bootie Call !!

[Brian Wong]

EOS 40D, 500/4
1/2500, f/4, ISO 1600, handheld on Jim's boat, manual exposure

Bootie Call !!

Photographed last month while on Jim Neiger's and James Shadle's BAA approved "Best of Florida" workshop.

Participant Ned Harris helped describe this typical raptor display behavior of high altitude, exaggerated wing flapping, followed by a series of dips and steep dives. Soon after this dive, this Snail Kite got "lucky", and did "the birds & the bees" thing.

Thank you for looking, and your tips for improvement are always appreciated.

[c.w. moynihan]

Great perspective and an awesome bg. I would prefer a more traditional 3x2 portrait aspect ratio crop as opposed to the squarish one here.

[Julie Kenward]

The detail on his wings are wonderful! Love the BG, too. What a beautiful image!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I too would prefer a more traditional crop. The bird's pose is very cool, that full tail spread underneath the folded wings is impressive! Don't want to sound too skeptical, but was that sky colour gradiant natural? Very nice either way.

[Jim Poor]

What a beauty. I think I'm on a haze kick lately or something, but this one looks just a touch hazy on the back of the bird. A boost in contrast or a bump in the blacks might help.

[Dieter Schaefer]

Great pose - background looks too good to be true. Not sure about the crop - square might work here. Now where are the images from the "birds and the bees" thing?

[Maxis Gamez]

Interesting pose. I wish he was bigger in the frame. I also have to agree with Jim but that's something you can easy fix in photoshop using curves.

[Gus Cobos]

Great capture on this fellow... He looks so intense, great details and colors...:D

[Arthur Morris]

Spectacular pose and wonderfully sharp. Would prefer a somewhat tigher crop. Was this bird on the top or on the bottom? (That is, is it a female or a young male?)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great pose and details. I agree on a tighter crop.

[Gerard Satherley]

Great pose and background. I think the square crop works fine.

[Brian Wong]

...Don't want to sound too skeptical, but was that sky colour gradiant natural? Very nice either way.

Hi Daniel and Dieter! I am impressed! Can't fool you ... you folks are GOOD! Yes, I (failed in making it look realistic) applied a filter in attempt to intensify the sky, and also a warming filter to the bird. I tried to tone them down in the repost.

Thank you Julie & Gus for taking the time to comment, and for your encouragement.

Hi Christian, Jim, Maxis, Artie, Axel, & satheger! Thank you for all the great suggestions, and I made the cropping suggestions in my repost. I added only a little to prevent too much empty white. Thank you, I do like the more vertical format better, but I'm afraid my image is falling apart (when I tried Maxis's, Artie's, & Axel's suggestion of making the bird bigger in the frame).

Jim and Maxis, I worked on the haze (black point & curves), but I think me deciding on taking out some of the warm tones maybe the reason why it still looks slightly grayish in the repost.

Spectacular pose and wonderfully sharp. Would prefer a somewhat tigher crop. Was this bird on the top or on the bottom? (That is, is it a female or a young male?)

Hey Artie! I do believe most folks (guys and gals) enjoy being on top:eek:!!! (just teasing ya!!!:D) I believe this display behavior is by the male. However I'm sure Ned can tell us for sure. Snail Kite's nest are hidden deep inside the reeds, and the species is protected. I did not visually see the actual act (other than their heads poking up and wing flap), but we did witness aurally (er not orally!!:eek:) their distinctive call.

Thank you all again, I greatly appreciate all the advice, help and wisdom.

[Ned Harris]

Artie: This is a young male Snail Kite. The courtship flight displays are performed by the males. We observed both "Sky-Dancing", as depicted in Brian's great image, and "Slow Flapping" with accentuated slow and deliberate wing beats with the wings raised high above the body on the upstroke. The bright red iris is also indicative of a male.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Ned for sharing your immense knowledge of raptors with us.