Spoonbills feeding at sunset

[joesaladino]

I took this photo of spoonbills feeding in Myakka River State Park near Sarasota, Florida, USA the other day that I wanted to share with you. The colors were not enhanced, this is the way it really looked, just gorgeous. I used my Olympus E-520 with an Olympus 40-150 lens. Settings were ISO 100, f 7.0, 1/400 sec, 102 mm focal length. Camera was mounted on a tripod and I used a remote shutter release.

[Hill Country Hack]

Very nice shot.

The first thing that jumped out at me were the birds in flight. I initially thought they were spots on my monitor here at work until I tried to wipe them off. They are a distraction for me as I found my eye continuing to be drawn back.

I may not have composed the sun and spoonbills in the center of the frame, even though they are in the upper and lower 1/3s. I would have tried making a diaginal with the birds and sun. I would even have tried shooting from a lower perspective to have the golden light bouncing off the water to give more of a silhouette to the spoon bills.

I know these are picking nits and definately personal preference, but I had to say it.

Keep at it and thanks for posting.

[JudiRose]

Gorgeous photo. The color is great! I agree with Hill about the centering and composition, but maybe that's something you could work with post processing.

[Krusty79]

What aspect of your shot did you want feedback on?

"Please include the following information, if possible, with your image: EXIF info, type of camera, specific questions (What do you think? is not a specific question). A meaningful title, NOT "Critique Please", will also get your post noticed in a crowded section, as well as any additional information you can give about the conditions in which you shot."

[vainqueur]

I think the ratio of the scene is definitely wrong because if you are trying to focus on the 3 birds, it is not exactly catchy. Personally, I would love to see better and longer reflection of the birds if possible.

The colors are fantastic btw, Olympus DSLR dont need PP to the colors of the photo, that's why I am still with Olympus for so long.

[joesaladino]

I like your suggestions Hill and Vainqueur. They make a lot of sense and I can see where the image would be much imporoved by following your advice. I guess I'll go back and wait for another sunset. The birds are always there. Thanks.

[joesaladino]

Thanks for your comments Krusty. Actually I am most interested in good composition.

[Barry Jackson]

I tried to wipe that same spot off my monitor.

Great shot and colors.

I agree that the image would also lend itself to a long panoramic of just the bottom 40% or so.

I like the way each bird is in a progressively more lowered position.

[Krusty79]

I wouldn't crop the image. As has been said before - nice capture of the sunset colors. I agree with not centering both the birds in the foreground and the sun. I would prefer to see the birds in the foreground to the right some more, to get them off center and to get them entering the frame. It would look like they were exiting the frame if you moved them to the left. So, if you could have moved to to the right some, the birds would not be so centered, but the sun would be. I would not want both the sun and birds on the same side of the image, as it would feel unbalanced. I hope this is making sense.

If you want a challenge, you could try to get both the sky and the birds in the water exposed correctly - not just silhouettes, but you're going to have to do some combination of using an ND grad filter/bracketing your shots so you can do an exposure blend or even HDR.