Wading for a snack Photo

Photographer’s Note

Pied Avocet (Recuvirostra avosetta): An unmistakeable white and black wading bird with a long, very thin, upturned bill and a black cap and hindneck. In flight, the pied pattern is striking, with three black patches on each upperwing. The underwing is black only at the tip. The long, bluish grey legs extend beyond the tail in flight. It feeds in water, using a sweeping, side-to-side bill movement.

The upturned bill of this bird is very interesting, but cannot be seen here in full. I think I must post one photo showing it just to give you an idea.

The story behind the photo:
Some of you are going to be jealous of me! I was invited by Callie (cdewet) to go bird shooting with him at the Marievale Bird Sanctuary in Springs, close to Johannesburg, South Africa.

It was a great experience and I learnt a lot. It was my very first attempt at shooting birds, and any feedback is very welcome.

Some of the thoughts I am left with after the experience are:
1. You must wake up early to get the good shots. I am not a morning person, and getting up at 04:00 AM to be ready at 04:30 AM was really tough... especially since I only got to bed at 01:30 AM :-)
2. Make sure you have enough batteries! I got my Nikon D100 only three days before this, and misjudged the battery power used by the constant autofocus with the long zoom. First I ran out of flash batteries, and a short while later my camera's battery was flat too. Then I just sat back and observed... :-)
3. I am going to have to save a lot of money to buy the equipment required for this. A decent 80-300 f/2.8 zoom (or longer) with a 2x converter will cost me an arm and a leg, but I want one! (We saw a guy with a Nikon 600mm f/4.0 lens, and I am still drooling... :-))
4. Bird shooting is great fun, and I still have a great deal to learn about it. Of the 64 shots I took, I can possibly use 2 or 3.
5. Callie is an incredibly nice guy, very knowledgable and passionate about his hobby...

OT12 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Darren (6819) 2003-11-17 3:11

The composition here is very good Henry. I really like the vertically symmetrical composition, with his reflection mirroring him in the water. The colors are great as well. Actually, the colors are really great. Although this shot is very good, it does suffer just a little from being soft. Not sure how to improve, maybe your tripod was not quite up to it, or perhaps the exposure was just too long. Still a very nice shot.

Your story is interesting too, and I am sure Callie is a good shooting partner, and has lots of knowledge to share. I was at a park here in Taipei not too long ago, and I also saw someone shooting with the Nikon 600f4. That is a serious piece of equipment, I wouldn't want to lug that far off road. The guy (an older Taiwanese guy) even let me take a couple shots, although since he was shooting film, I never did get to see the results. This is good, and I am certain you will have many more even better shots to put up.

kourosh (2368) 2003-11-17 3:12

Excellent work henry, this is a superb shot. i think everything is just right. i particularly like the softness of the feather.
useful notes also.

boof (634) 2003-11-17 3:20

nive. i like the way the bird and its reflection create a V shap that come to a point in the center on the horizontal axis. and the head seems to define the point of where the blue turns to a red and orange reflection. very nice shot.

avigur_11 (21301) 2003-11-17 3:35

Great shot, great job, and very well done Henry. Yes, your story nade me jealous (except about waking up at 4AM), about having the opportumity to shoot wonderful birds, in a wonderful place, with Callie as partner.

Ah, alomost forgot - excellent bird, and very excellent photo. Very very well done!

Nina (4603) 2003-11-17 4:09

Excellent shot Henry. I was captivated by the colours reflected in the water.

olli (2091) 2003-11-17 4:28

Such a beautiful bird – and such a beautiful shot of it.And very interesting note, too. Especially I like the pose and the reflection. Because Avocet is quite a graphic bird, I think this image could work also in B&W – I posted a WS.

BTW: Avocet is one of my favorite birds. It doesn´t nest in Finland but some avocets can be seen here every year. So it´s one of my dreams in bird watching to see one in Finland...

martin (1242) 2003-11-17 4:28

Good shot, Henry, particularly as it was your first attempt at bird photography and with a new camera. The colours, including the white and the black, are very good and the composition is effective, with just the right amount of 'space' on the right.

[2]

padam (186) 2003-11-17 5:10

Was worth to get up very early because the shot is really nice. And also, I imagine, for the only pleasure to observe the fauna...
I like the angle you chose, with the B&W avocet contrasting with the background given by the reflection of some plants.

We can see some avocets here in Switzerland, mainly in between april and july. I hope that my equipment will be ready at that time ;-)
Thank your for your very informative note.

PLD_images (7141) 2003-11-17 7:52

When I first saw your shot, I figured it was by Callie... I wasn't so far off was I. And yes I am jealous big time. First from your experience and the chance to meet with another good photographer of TE, but also about the chance that you have to live in an area where you can get shots like this one. Here with winter very well on it's way, the only exotic animals are in zoo's. Really not the same kind of trip...

By the way, this is a great shot. Very good sharpness on the bird. I like the "action" with the bird in the water.

You should try to get up early more often....

[2]

mtolloczko (201) 2003-11-17 8:20

The composition and colours work very well. The bird is a little soft but this gives a painterly feel to the image. You captured the reflection and the bird in action, which is difficult to do. Looking forward to seeing more images of this nature.

cdewet (0) 2003-11-17 12:59

A very well executed photograph, taken the fact that the light was up to no good. No sun, and I having left the beanbags at home to boot. This was taken by precariously balancing the long lens fully extended to 500, 750 digital on the small edge of the hide windowcill, so I AM impressed. The colours of the reeds reflecting in the water and the pose you caught is lovely. Biaie geluk!

[2]

RobBrown (1789) 2003-11-17 17:22

A realy nice capture you have managed well to keep the details in the white feathers, all i get is burn out in them.every thing else has been said by others, so big ;0)))))#

joseelias (367) 2003-11-17 18:21

I'm jeallous. The only birds I've got around here are pigeons, sparrows and seaguls...

Very well managed photo. The tones and reflexions are fantastic and I like a lot the passing from a warm orange to a cold blue. Only miss a bit of sharpening

dominique (11403) 2003-11-25 16:51

A super framing and an interesting reflection with beautiful colors. it is well done.

dsidwell (9745) 2003-12-24 23:35

This may need a little sharpening, but it is still my favorite of your bird shots, Henry. The composition is very strong, and I like the bird's environment being hinted at so nicely.

yesterday (9787) 2004-05-19 3:32

Excellent capture, good light and contrast, good color to, vell compoced photo, with good reflextion.

jsec (2074) 2005-12-13 18:31

Hi, good job here, but I am intrigued why you would want to change your Sigma 500mm for a 300mm with an extender. Do you not like the Sigma?

char_mifsud (540) 2008-02-07 0:01

Hello Henry,
Excellent capture, good light and contrast, good color too. Well composed photo, with good reflection. Very good sharpness on the bird. I like the "action" with the bird in the water. Well done.
Regards,
Charles
Malta

Photo Information

Copyright: Henry Engelbrecht (henrye) (3498)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2003-11-15
Categories: Nature
Camera: Nikon D100, Sigma 50-500 F4-6.3, Digital JPEG, UV
Exposure: 1/125 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes (Fill) Flash: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): The birds from Marievale Bird Sanctuary, Wildlife, birds /oiseaux [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2003-11-17 3:01
Favorites: 2 [view]