War Dance

Gallery: AvianPosted March 31, 201568 views4 comments

That's what my wife said when she saw this one. I was amazed at how disheveled this Snowy Egret could make itself in just a few seconds and then how quickly every feather could be back in place. The entire sequence of images went from nice and tidy through this peak and back to prim neatness in 22 seconds. I do wish I'd had some eye contact in this frame, but I thought the disheveled head plumes made up for it.

7Dii, 300mm f4 ISL + 1.4TC, monopod, iso 800, f/8.0, 1/2000, aperture priority, -2/3 stop exposure compensation, processed in LR5 and CS6. Bumped up the color temperature a trifle, dodged the head just a bit as it was in shadow-not sure if that was the best move. Cropped to 12.6MP from the original 20. Taken at Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas Texas at 8:20 am on February 22nd.

Comments and criticisms are appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Jim Gavin on March 31, 2015 at 10:01 PM

Your wife: very astute. The image: Love it! No nits. Do you ever get to Long Beach?

Registered on August 14, 2008, 293 Posts, 1250 Comments

Comment posted by David Rowe on April 1, 2015 at 3:28 PM

The shot is so unusual, if not unique. I have never seen an egret attired in what appears to be threadbare wet wool. The motion of the bird adds a further dimension to this intriguing composition. Your persistence with the technical tweaks was well worth while.
David.

Registered on December 20, 2013, 133 Posts, 286 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on April 1, 2015 at 4:05 PM

Never seen it this explicit - what a thrill ! Okay, eye contact would have been the icing on the cake, but this is already a great one. It looks like it didn't read it's own washing instructions

. Unique moment, well captured

, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on April 1, 2015 at 7:03 PM

Hey Dennis, great capture of the behavior. I like the raised foot, it looks like it's doing some crazy dance. Tough exposure on those whites but you did well. I think the action out ways the lack of an eye IMO. Nice job!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments