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Gator and Gar
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Gator and Gar

by Wayne Willison

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 20, 2011264 views11 comments
This one munches down a Garfish, while birds feed around it. I was shooting birds and noticed several gators fishing among them. Every once in a while they'd stalk the birds, but the egrets and woodstorks would simply take a step or two back and continue their own hunt for fish.

D3s 300mm w/1.4TC f/5.6 1/500 ISO 1600

Comments

11 comments
Comment posted by Gary Marquart on March 20, 2011 at 2:27 PM
A bloody good behavior and habitat shot Wayne! :smile: A real gutsy shot! :rolleyes:
Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on March 20, 2011 at 4:09 PM
Very neat shot. Like the action and that you have habitat included. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 20, 2011 at 7:52 PM
Nice capture. The environment helps set the story
Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Gulash on March 20, 2011 at 9:30 PM
Natural looking scene. The gator looks so casual with the gar hanging out of its mouth, the birds just doing their thing. :wink: Their are some slightly extraneous shadows around the edges but they contribute in a way to the casual feel to the image. Nice golden light.
Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Hackley on March 20, 2011 at 11:23 PM
This is one of those where you have to look at the larger image to really appreciate the shot. I like the detail and lighting on the gator head and interesting to read the egrets do not seem to concerned, way to go.
Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments
Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on March 20, 2011 at 11:53 PM
A very captivating shot Wayne, and the surrounding habitat lends very well to the image over all. Perhaps one of the things I like most about this picture is that Woodstork (I'm assuming it's a Woodstork going by it's plumage) to the right, apparently oblivious of the Gator, as it opens up so many possibilities for a caption ;^)

Kind regards,

Ashley
Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments
Comment posted by richard remington on March 21, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Wayne,

Great shot! Wonderful action and the wood stork is terrific!

Rick :toast:
Registered on March 12, 2010, 105 Posts, 368 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on March 21, 2011 at 9:28 AM
'Gators usually translate so dark that the warm light on the side of his face and eye make this a real pleasure. I am unsure whether I would prefer it without the bird, but it does add to the flow of the composition. You might experiment with it cropped to a pano so the bird is unrecognizable.
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Maile on March 21, 2011 at 7:34 PM
Very sharp Wayne, why are these Gar always getting eaten by something else??!! :wink: I like what Lon said about a pano, that's where the action is.
Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Watkins on March 22, 2011 at 12:34 AM
I like this as is, but believe it may look a lot better as a pano
Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on March 22, 2011 at 8:01 AM
Like the light on the gators face here Wayne, shows all the grisly details nicely..
Excellent moment captured :toast:
Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments