Liftoff

Gallery: AvianPosted May 23, 201652 views8 comments

Cattle Egret

Caught this guy lifting off after a dive for a stick. I like the effect of the water droplets trailing off of the feet, the bird against the dark background, and the way the slight head turn suggests the turn to the nest. Taken in the Spring of 2015 at Rip's Rookery in Louisiana.

D7200
1/4000, f/8
ISO 400
T150-600mm @ 380mm
Cropped to 8.3MP before resizing.
LR6, adjustments to exposure and balance, sharpening.

C&C welcomed.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 23, 2016 at 10:29 PM

Excellent, Raoul. It's a bit of an unconventional pose, but I love how it shows off the breeding plumage of the Cattle Egret and the stick tells the story without additional embellishment.

devil

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

Comment posted by Raoul Breaux Jr on May 23, 2016 at 10:43 PM

Thanks Dennis. A little added interest--if memory serves me, this is the same bird that appears in an earlier post "Dive With Leg Assist". It, like all of the active nest builders, had to resort to floating sticks, as everything else had been stripped clean.

Registered on April 27, 2016, 20 Posts, 142 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on May 23, 2016 at 11:16 PM

In the thumb it looks like this bird is dancing. The falling water drops are a great catch that add very well to the sense of action, with the stick telling the story about nest building.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Peter J. Morrissey on May 24, 2016 at 3:54 PM

Hi Raoul
You did a great job with the whites and over all color balance. Nice stop action and water droplets.
Peter

Registered on July 3, 2011, 188 Posts, 969 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on May 24, 2016 at 10:15 PM

Most back shots aren't very effective, but I like this one. The captured motion and the nest stick held high really add interest.

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

Comment posted by David Schoen on May 25, 2016 at 1:47 PM

I really like this image. The bird has an almost humanlike pose as if it is standing on its legs and spreading its wings. It looks like a person from behind wearing a coat and flashing somebody. And then there are the blonde feathers adding to the mystique. And that stick in the mouth. Very interesting! I think this is a well done image Raoul.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on May 26, 2016 at 10:08 AM

I like this a lot Raoul. The action it portrays is very obvious and tells the story well. Great colors and detail throughout. devil

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

Comment posted by May Haga on May 29, 2016 at 4:05 PM

Wonderful timing. Excellent capture. I, too, like the water droplets trailing off the bird's feet. I don't normally like shots with the bird facing away but this one works very nicely.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments