Bad Feather Day

Gallery: AvianPosted June 25, 201657 views7 comments

This Snowy Egret had been grabbing floating nesting material and was damp from the splashing. It flew to the bank and proceeded to vigorously shake dry. I love the textures of the flying feathers and the illumination. The head position isn't the best, but its head was down through the entire drying cycle.

Taken at Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge, Louisiana in April of 2015.

D7200 tripod
1/1600 sec, f/7.1
ISO 400
T150-600 @ 500mm
Cropped to 27% of the frame.
LR-6 exposure adjustments, cloned out a reed, minor sharpening.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on June 25, 2016 at 5:25 PM

Love this shot. I've also seen these guys do this. Rich colors. Well done.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 25, 2016 at 6:22 PM

I saw one do this in Texas a year and a half ago, Raoul, and it was amazing how quickly it could disarrange all its feathers, then bring them back to prim and proper position after it was done. This is a great capture of that action with gorgeous lighting and bg.

devil

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on June 25, 2016 at 7:13 PM

Nice behavioral shot! The head position is not bothersome in this type of shot - catching the soaked, ruffled feathers is well worth it.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on June 26, 2016 at 11:22 AM

I really like the strong contrast between the egret and the soft background - beautifully done! And your title is perfect :)

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on June 26, 2016 at 12:58 PM

Really like the behavior here Raoul. Nice work!

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

Comment posted by David Schoen on June 27, 2016 at 10:51 PM

The white feather detail comes through quite well in the larger image. Nice BG. Well seen.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on June 28, 2016 at 5:08 PM

Great capture of the shake off, Raoul. I am fine with not seeing the eye - the pose makes up for it. The environment is also very captivating - I really like the color palette and light in the image.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments