Breakfast Hunt

Gallery: AvianPosted January 19, 201159 views13 comments

Found this Snowy Egret flitting around in a shallow canal to scare up breakfast- kept coming up with the tiniest fish in its bill.
The image looks like it needs to be rotated clockwise, but the landscape is level. The snowy had stepped into a hole so its body pitched forward.
This is after a night of rain and at 7:30 am there still wasn't any light to speak of hence the high iso.

D3s 300mm2.8 +1.4 TC f/5.6 1/640 ISO 2500

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 19, 2011 at 3:22 PM

Excellent detail and nice action, Wayne.

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

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on January 19, 2011 at 4:52 PM

Excellent exposure and action!

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on January 19, 2011 at 6:16 PM

Would never have guessed the ISO. Love the bird with the dark bg.

Dan

Registered on February 11, 2010, 143 Posts, 1248 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on January 19, 2011 at 7:02 PM

I like the action, and the white bird on the dark background.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on January 19, 2011 at 8:03 PM

Wayne, I really like the wing position and 1/640 got even the wings sharp. Exposure looks good. I'm slightly surprised that the background is as dark as it is given the light on the egret.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on January 19, 2011 at 9:13 PM

Wayne,

I like the pose of the snowy egret, the wing position and how intent the bird appears to be on finding its prey. I would consider lightening this just a little to bring out more details in the setting.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on January 19, 2011 at 10:27 PM

Hi Wayne

Remarkable detail on this great action shot. and with good wing position !!

Albert Darmo. Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on January 19, 2011 at 11:30 PM

Excellent behavioral shot. I agree with Mia that the image could be brightened and have more impact, especially if you could tease more detail out in the whites.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on January 20, 2011 at 3:08 AM

Beautiful Egret, Wayne ! Excellent exposure !
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on January 20, 2011 at 8:53 AM

Wayne, absolutely incredible sharpness and detail, great action.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on January 20, 2011 at 9:05 AM

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. For those who mentioned the dark setting, it's from using spot metering on a white bird in low light. Matrix metering would render the setting brighter of course, but at the expense of shutter speed.
And Jim, I probably can tease more detail out of the bird, although I think the right wing is soft from the slowish shutter speed.

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

Comment posted by Angela McCain on January 20, 2011 at 11:27 PM

Nice handling of the whites. Very sharp and good detail in the larger photo. It feel like it needs a little clockwise rotation to me.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on January 21, 2011 at 12:56 PM

Nice action Wayne and another example of the low light capability of the D3s. Great detail in the feathers and excellent job on the exposure

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments