Am. Bittern/snake+redo

Gallery: AvianPosted January 7, 2017323 views5 comments

Gainesville, Florida
1/7/2017 – 10:51:57 AM, rainy earlier, medium to dark clouds
Canon EOS 7D EF400mm f/5.6L USM
1/160 sec; f/5.6; ISO 640
Manual; Spot metering
LR5, PS6, Curves layer moving white marker to left to brighten, used Content Aware Move and Fill to remove a couple of reeds, used strong Topaz DeNoise on background to try to manage the busyness, Topaz Detail on bird and snake, full frame

This battle had already begun when I got there, and it lasted 14 more minutes while I was there. I like snakes, and it kind of made me feel sick. The battle started low in the reeds, and I have those images, too. Apparently the snake had wrapped itself around something, and the Bittern pulled and pulled for most of the 14 minutes to get the snake loose, which, as you can see, he/she did. As soon as the last of the snake went down, the Bittern went back into the reeds.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 7, 2017 at 9:29 PM

I like snakes too, Barbara, but this is still a wonderful find. A very nice shot of the action. I'd be tempted to work on removing that horizontal stick that crosses the snake as it tends to pull my eye and I might raise the brightness of the whole scene. It looks like the whites on the throat are close to the max, but you could burn them a trifle and raise the whole image to bring them back to their current state.

devil

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

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on January 8, 2017 at 12:02 PM

Dennis, thank you for the feedback. Here is a repost with your suggestions, except that it just didn't look right to me to raise the brightness of the background because it is just so busy, but I did raise the brightness of the bird and snake a little. How does this look?

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on January 8, 2017 at 12:18 PM

Hi Barb,

I like the repost with the sticks removed. Bitterns are not the easiest to photograph, so I believe that you have done well with this particular bittern. The bittern has some nice colors and you caught it in an excellent pose (but not from a water snake's point of view angel

) ....................................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 8, 2017 at 12:46 PM

Nice job on the repost, Barbara. I think you were right not to brighten the bg. Excellent work.

devil

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

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on January 9, 2017 at 12:06 PM

Barbara, I would love to run across something like this. Excellent work removing the sticks in the bg. This is a marvelous action capture. I have never seen a Bittern let alone a Bittern with a snake in it's mouth. Wow!

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