Black Skimmer + REPOST

VERY tough to catch these fast and erratic speedsters!
Nice skimmer in a good pose.
Yes, a bit soft but still worthy.
I think a little brightening overall would help, and it needs some CW rotation to level the water trail. A trick I use is to be sure the eye and reflected eye both intersect a vertical line. That levels the rest of the image most of the time.
Nice catch!
Sandy

Sandy:
Thanks. The bird is coming at an angle, so the water trail is not going to be level. I had checked the symmetry of bird and reflection and thought I had the rotation correct. However, when I rechecked, it was a little off. Here is a version with the corrected rotation (a vertical line does go through the "eyes") and a little additional exposure.
I put eyes in quotes, because I'm not sure the light speck is the eye. At high resolution it is blue and may be a water droplet.
This is a frustrating image. If I just look at the outline of the bill, the image is sharp. But the detail in the texture of the feathers is lacking, because of the high ISO I think.

Very nice, David. Wonderful graphic pose and composition. While it is a bit soft, I think it gives the image a kind of dreamy feel that I like very much.

From a brightness point of view, I much prefer the original.

Really nice image. The reflection is great and of course the water trail really make this sing. I too like the original from a brightness point of view.

Sweet shot David. I was shocked when I first saw Pcola Beach, but then I saw it was your's. I love the graceful arc of the wing as it almost touches the water and the perfect pose. Excellent job.

Great pose and reflection of the bird. I also prefer the original one. The colors are more natural on the first one.

Beautiful David! The tradeoff you made by going with the high ISO was the right one. I don't think this would have worked anywhere near as well with a slower shutter speed.

In air pose, reflection, and overall comp make this stellar.

Peter
ps another vote for the original.

Beautiful shot, I like the mirror image. Water looks like glass.

Ray

Great action! Love the reflection and the way the bill is just touching the water.

David i was shooting these guys all day and came home with nothing like this. I love the still water and reflection as well as the water trail.I too prefer the original. It just flows better to me.

Ditto KC's comment about brightness David - lovely capture

cheers
Rob

Marvelous action and of course I love that mirrored effect with the outstretched right wings coming so close to touching, very nice indeed David :^)

I too like the original better. a tough shot and having to go to ISO 1600 did not help IQ here. This is one of those times where good morning light was needed and did not materialize. If you can get back to this area I would wait for clear skies and go after a better shot. Not that this shot is not worth having, I just know that if you are like me, you want that perfect shot.

I don't like reflections normally but this one works . Good stuff.
JohnR

I think there are times when additional detail might even detract from an image, David. I think this is such an image. It's beautiful as is: action and color are just wonderful. I've been doing quite a bit of reading about using photographs as a basis for paintings. One artist made the point that the detail that we generally value so highly in a photograph should be blurred for the painting. He did not give a reason. However, I can see with this one that the slight lack of detail emphasizes the form and action. Looks great to me as posted.

Beautiful reflection shot David, I was thinking the lack of sharpness in the wings probably has more to do with not enough depth of field than the 1600 iso which that camera should handle well.