Roseate Spoonbill

Gallery: AvianPosted May 9, 2011147 views15 comments

I've had little time either for shooting or participating here lately (and likely won't have much time for another month), but wanted to share another favorite from Florida. Taken at the small tidal lagoon on Estero Island.

Your comments and critiques are appreciated.

Canon 7D, 500mm, monopod

1/1000, f/11, ISO 320

Crop to 78% of original (14.0 of 18MP)

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Bill Maile on May 9, 2011 at 10:15 AM

Love the low light and the nice low angle too Brian, what a pretty bird, would love to see one in full reflection also.

Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on May 9, 2011 at 10:18 AM

Great job on the techs Brian as usual. The sharpness in this is superb and love the light and head turn. Great job!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Darren Colello on May 9, 2011 at 11:57 AM

Brian this is simply beautiful. Love the lighting and detail. Well composed.

Registered on July 27, 2009, 175 Posts, 1100 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on May 9, 2011 at 12:47 PM

Dramatic light, nice position, excellent detail.

Well done.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on May 9, 2011 at 2:51 PM

Brian,
Perfect techs on this one and it shows. The whites look really good, nice dark background that make the bird stand out, a perfect head turn with good catchlight in the eye, very nice colors, and very sharp everywhere F/11!! I love the composition where you've included just a touch of reflection in the water. Really nice image Brian.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on May 9, 2011 at 4:15 PM

Very nice, Brian. Great color, true to the bird color, and love that eye.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on May 9, 2011 at 4:25 PM

The lovely light, nice pose, eye contact, dark BG, and excellent exposure are all very positive aspects of this image.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on May 9, 2011 at 4:42 PM

Love this one Brian. The dark BG really makes this bird stand out and the detail on the bird is top-notch with overall IQ also at the highest level IMO. The pose is great and the reflected bands on light on the bird add to the image IMO. Very well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on May 9, 2011 at 5:04 PM

Wonderful pose with the head turn and some great feather detail on the larger version. The light on the spoonbill really make it standout with the dark background. I do have a question about what is making the background so dark with the bird in such bright light (trees)? The overall IQ is outstanding, I keep on going back to look at the larger image, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on May 9, 2011 at 5:26 PM

thanks for the comments everyone. Jim, the water is dark because it's reflecting some dark mangroves that were on the opposite side of the very small lagoon. In making sure to carefully (manually) expose for the bright bird without blowing any highlights, the water was rendered nice and dark. No relative brightness adjustments were made to this image (i.e., no brightening of subject or darkening of bg).

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Canuel on May 9, 2011 at 9:14 PM

Nice mood to this shot Brian. Also like the pose. It gives a nice view of both the wing and face without being a static profile shot.

Registered on September 12, 2010, 53 Posts, 660 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on May 9, 2011 at 10:42 PM

One of the birds I was hoping to find but missed out on in Florida - gorgeous lighting and the head turn showing off that bill is exquisite

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on May 10, 2011 at 8:10 AM

Great light and detail Brian - a striking shot

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by keith mitchell on May 10, 2011 at 3:53 PM

Hi Brian.
I can only agree with comments before me this is one lovely image.
Keith.

Registered on July 12, 2008, 127 Posts, 1735 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Deibert on February 7, 2012 at 2:17 AM

I love this shot, Brian - the large version is simply awe-inspiring! I love the light colored bird against the dark bg, the pose of the bird, the colors of its feathers, low angle - everything just works!

Registered on September 30, 2011, 48 Posts, 125 Comments