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behind the lens badge
cameraCanon EOS REBEL T3

settings Aperture f/5.6 ISO 400 Shutter 1/125 

upload_dateJan, 2014

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2967

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Awards

Chatter Award
Legendary Award
Top Shot Award
Contest Finalist in Anything Birds Photo Contest
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Contest Finalist in Two Wings Photo Contest
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Peer Award
djalmaarmelin davidjprosser Tudorof karinmcfarlane keithart billmartin_2615 ileanaandreagmezgavinoser +109
Superb Composition
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Outstanding Creativity
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Magnificent Capture
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Exceptional Contrast
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Virtuoso
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One Of A Kind
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Jaw Dropping
martynholland

Emotions

Impressed
Jasperstwin

Top Ranks

Anything Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Anything Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 6Top 20 rank
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 6Top 20 rank week 1
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World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 2Top 20 rank
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 2Top 10 rank week 2
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 2Top 10 rank week 1
We Love Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Covers Photo Contest Vol 34Top 10 rank
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The Animal Eye Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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The Beauty Of Birds Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Animal Eye Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The Beauty Of Birds Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Our Natural World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Clever Angles Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Clever Angles Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
The Battle Of Advanced Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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The Battle Of Advanced Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank
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Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank week 1
Wildlife Closeups Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Wildlife Closeups Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
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Categories

20 Comments |
billebbing
 
billebbing February 08, 2014
very nice.
KrakenWaker
 
KrakenWaker April 28, 2014
Really nice shot, the colour in the eye is amazing.
jane_koranda
 
jane_koranda June 30, 2014
Beautiful...
CarolHuffmanPhotography
 
CarolHuffmanPhotography June 30, 2014
Beautiful detail and light! Cormorant??
DaveLoucks PRO+
 
DaveLoucks August 02, 2014
emerald eyes beautiful great comp
DocTom Platinum
 
DocTom February 23, 2015
Lovely perspective, great color!
donnarenzulli Ultimate
 
donnarenzulli February 23, 2015
wonderful work on this image. Award winning shot
barbarabrock Platinum
 
barbarabrock March 03, 2015
Awesome shot. Is this a cormorant?
kellytatephoto
kellytatephoto March 05, 2015
thank you. It's hard to tell from the photo, but she's an Anhinga :)
carlosramos
 
carlosramos March 04, 2015
Congratulations amazing capture !
marizzza Platinum
 
marizzza March 10, 2015
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
marizzza Platinum
 
marizzza March 10, 2015
Write a comment
marizzza Platinum
 
marizzza March 10, 2015
congratulation! great capture!!!
robgubiani
 
robgubiani June 08, 2016
A sensational photo of a wonderful cormorant
mle555
 
mle555 November 14, 2016
Breathe-taking shot! Beautiful capture.
Eddieuuu071 Platinum
 
Eddieuuu071 May 28, 2017
Thank you for submitting your wonderful photo to this challenge! I have added it to my favorites so best of luck!
Nicci007
 
Nicci007 September 04, 2017
Lovely colours!!
Nick80D
 
Nick80D March 11, 2018
Incredible
keepclicking
 
keepclicking November 04, 2018
Excellent image
shellymaan
 
shellymaan January 22, 2019
Its like a jewel in the crown.......Great shot.
russellnicholson
 
russellnicholson July 07, 2020
Superb Details and Fantastic Composition.... The Emerald Green eye really Stands out.... A jewel...😊😊😎😎

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken on the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades National Park. It's a very popular trail with great opportunities to see wildlife. I was just getting started in photography, and thought the trail would be an easy way to challenge myself with the unpredictability of wildlife.

Time

I took this photo in the middle of the afternoon. I hadn't been expecting to take many photos since it's never a given with wildlife. But in this case I was gifted virtually as much time as I wanted, as the bird was happy where she was. I spent about a half hour photographing this female anhinga, who was drying off after a midday swim.

Lighting

The mid-afternoon lighting actually worked to my advantage; it allowed me to avoid harsh shadows from my perspective and also brought out some of the detail in her feathers. I was captivated by her eye and the brightness of the day allowed me to handhold my camera and still capture a lot of the details that would not have otherwise been possible.

Equipment

This was shot was handheld with a Canon EOS Rebel T3 with a Tamron 70-300mm lens.

Inspiration

Initially I was just walking by the anhinga and watching as it dried off in the sunlight. She stretched her wings and would sit motionless and then would tuck her wings back and preen, twisting her head to reach most of the way down her back. As she was preening her crystalline blue eye was captivating against the dark feathers and I drew out my camera. I wanted to capture the intrigue I felt as I watched her and draw my audience into the photo as she had done with me.

Editing

I did very minimal post processing on this photo, everything was done in Lightroom 5. I slightly increased the contrast and helped bring out some of the color. In additional I removed some chromatic aberration and sharpened the details.

In my camera bag

Honestly, I probably carry too much, since I took this photo I've acquired a lot more gear and updated my camera body and have trouble choosing what to leave behind. Currently I have a pretty good compromise, and I carry my Canon 70D body, along with some Tamron lens: 17-50mm, 10-24mm and 70-300mm and circular polarizers for each lens. I also carry a shutter release, Cokin graduated Neutral Density filters (2 stop, 4 stop and a 6 stop), as well as a 9 stop Hoya variable ND filter (which I love!) And last but not least a Manfrotto 055 carbon fiber tripod which has saved me on more occasions than I can count, it's so stable!

Feedback

It sounds somewhat cliché but I would recommend working the scene. If you can, start by observing your subject and figure out what draws you to that animal or scene. Try to incorporate that feeling or feature into your photograph. Once you are shooting, move around, try different angles. Things look different on the back of your camera screen than they do on a computer, by trying different approaches you'll increase your success and probably end up with something much more unique than what you had started shooting. My best shots have come after working a particular scene for a while, the best ones always seem like they are at the end for me, once I've exhausted all of the obvious options and really have to put effort into making it different than what I've already shot.

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