White Ibis with fish

Gallery: AvianPosted April 10, 2011167 views22 comments

Thought I'd post this to see what people think. Not as much detail as I'd ordinarily want, due to the bird being relatively small in the frame plus a moderate crop, but I like the simplicity of the scene, the reflection, and the open mouth of the fish.

To reduce this to its simple elements I cloned out a small white reflection at the top of the frame as well as a dust spot behind the bird and a distracting water drop that was hard to tell it was a water drop.

Taken at Tigertail Beach, Marco Island, FL.

Your comments and critiques are appreciated. Please view the larger version if possible.

Canon 7D, 500mm + 1.4x TC, monopod, kneeling.

f/8, 1/2000, ISO 400

Crop to 61% (10.9 of 18MP)

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on April 11, 2011 at 1:05 AM

Brian ..love the simplicity and the symmetry of the image ....the whites are very well handled.

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Karen Summers on April 11, 2011 at 6:02 AM

lovely shot light looks beautiful

Registered on December 3, 2009, 83 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on April 11, 2011 at 7:26 AM

I think this is a great shot. I like the symmetry of the shot, the light is great and the detail in the whites is good. Also the dof is right on.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 11, 2011 at 8:39 AM

Love the simple comp with nice light, reflection, bird, and fish Brian. I do believe I can see your clone work above the bird's back. I might do a bit more "healing" on that area to blend it better. Other than that, love the image.

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

Comment posted by Sue Eberhart on April 11, 2011 at 9:49 AM

What I like about this image is the golden light, just enough to et you know this was an early or late in the day shot. I also like the "just right" sheen on the legs and beak. And the fish? wonderful bonus. Well done.

Registered on June 9, 2009, 44 Posts, 208 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Canning on April 11, 2011 at 12:32 PM

That's great! The open mouth of the fish draws my eye directly. Very nice detail and reflection. Might consider blurring the BG / water a small amount, its a bit noisy.

Registered on February 10, 2004, 88 Posts, 549 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on April 11, 2011 at 1:43 PM

You really hit it out of the park in Florida. . . these birds I find are difficult to photograph because they're so often on areas of grass probing the mud - and the white white white feathers makes exposure so tough. To get the bird eating a fish (with mouth open!) and nice exposure is really impressive.

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

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on April 11, 2011 at 1:57 PM

Very nice as posted. I'd be quite happy to have taken this. I love the symmetry and simplicity.

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

Comment posted by Murali Santhanam on April 11, 2011 at 2:04 PM

Like the color. The fish factor would look nicer in the bigger image.

Registered on July 31, 2008, 43 Posts, 331 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 11, 2011 at 4:05 PM

A Simply Beautiful Ibis Photo Brian

Clean water, a great reflection, and a meal facing the camera. Excellent feather detail too.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on April 11, 2011 at 6:08 PM

exposure nicely handled - I like the low angle with the reflection

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by dan elster on April 11, 2011 at 7:13 PM

Wow! This would be a beauty without the fish. Great, great angle, light, sharpness, action, exposure.

Registered on September 23, 2005, 299 Posts, 2443 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 12, 2011 at 6:18 AM

I'd be over the moon if this were my shot Brian! The exposure is spot on, the lighting's wonderful, the reflection lends well to the overall appeal, and the open-mouthed fish has me smiling ear to ear :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 12, 2011 at 12:41 PM

Brian,

I haven't been active on posting or commenting on NPN lately but I wanted you to know I have been viewing your Florida images, I hope to comment on the previous ones when (or if) I can find the time :-)

First, I love the open-mouthed fish in the bill of your Ibis, it looks like a searobin. I like the simplicity of your image, the graceful pose of the Ibis, the reflection and the smooth water. You handled the exposure of the whites very well and the reds of this bird in breeding plumage look great. The comp works very well for metoo. Lovely light, details & sharpness.

I do see at the top of the frame, above the highest part of the back, what appears to be some cloning artifacts, those shold be very easy to remove. Also, about 82 pixels above the i in Brian in your copyright line there looks to be a dust bunny or perhaps OOF bubble on the water, I'd consider removing that.

White Ibises can be difficult to expose correctly and you have done a fine job here.

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

Comment posted by Steve Balke on April 12, 2011 at 12:44 PM

It looks great to me as posted, Brian. The feeding action and reflection along with the elegant comp make for a very fine shot.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on April 12, 2011 at 12:46 PM

I like the curved form multiplied by the reflection. Great techs and that open mouth of the fish is a bonus. Nice one, Brian.

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on April 12, 2011 at 2:41 PM

Brian, another real good shot from Florida! I really like the reflection and action in this one.

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

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 12, 2011 at 10:49 PM

I like it alot because of the colors and the great reflection. The fish adds a bonus as well.

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on April 13, 2011 at 3:32 PM

You got a great angle which brings out the reflection very well, Brian. I don't feel the bird is small in this frame at all. Pose, eye and light are all perfect. The fish and reflection of ripples on the ibis make this image stand out for me. Congrats on getting this.

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

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on April 13, 2011 at 7:11 PM

Very well done Brian. Your exposure looks very good and I like the fish, the reflection and your low angle. Colors look right too.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 16, 2011 at 10:42 AM

Although it sounds like you weren't sure about this shot, it is probably my favorite of yours Brian. It has it all beautiful light, a great reflection, action and emotion from the fish pointing straight at the camera with it's mouth open. It's very well composed also. The cloning has been mentioned and is easy enough to clean up. Congrats on a great image.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Ruben Vicente on April 28, 2011 at 5:38 PM

Nice reflection and great light. Love the symmetry and low angle of the photo.

Another interesting feature is that's hard to distinguish the boundary between the water and the horizon.

Registered on April 9, 2011, 4 Posts, 59 Comments