Snowy Egret

Taken July 9 on the Elk River below Noel Missouri. I know it has some flaws, the eye isn't in focus and the wings would ideally be completely shown. All told though, given the equipment used, I'm very tickled with the outcome.

Equipment: One middle aged man who has slept out on a gravel bar and is now suffering caffiene withdrawl. Kayak, loaded with camping & fishing gear. Camera, handheld.

Thanks for looking.

Bruce, you touched on a couple of technical points but I see what you mean, this is still a very nice image. I love the suspended water drops cascading from the egret's feet. If you had captured the entire bird this would be over the top! Very nice shot, thanks for posting!

Bruce, you've already noted the technical points but as a handheld shot I think you did a wonderful job in capturing the Egert. As Wayne said already, I like the water drops also. Well done and thanks for sharing!

Bruce, Since you've already pointed out what we shouldn't like about this one, I can only say that I like it, anyway. The water drops really set it off. My question is did you crop the left side or right side? If you cropped the left, I'd like to see the image with a little more room over there for the Egret to move into. Great job!

I still like it too. The drops of water really make this shot, and you've shown some really nice detail. More at the top would have been nice, but sometimes you just can't have everything, especially when it comes to photographing birds. Nice work - thanks for posting!

Thanks all, I've learned to post only my very best here. So when I decided to put this one up I wanted to say "Yes I know" to the issues I could see with it. That doesn't mean I'm ashamed of this at all. In fact it's one of my all time favorites, and yes the water drops make it for me too. Makes me want to go back.

Dominic, Yes I did crop the right side. I did take just a little off the left also but did so to try and balance the bird within the frame. It just felt right.