Yellow Billed Stork
by satux

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Having shot a fair amount of wildlife and birds equivalent to this, I can appreciate how much work went into capturing this image. Very well exposed and great use of the ambient light, the reflection is warped just enough in the water to show how still it is, and the stork's looking stuck in the mud brings an almost comical aspect to it. Overall an excellent capture. Composition is a bit on the safe side with an almost perfect 50/50 horizon, but I think you're forgiven! It can be tough to crop such a pic any other way, without getting in too close.

My main nitpick would be the whites along the top of the bird's back. ISO 1000 seems pretty high for a white bird shot during daylight hours; the tones of the bird's reflection in that same area shows no such bleachiness. This is more of a true wildlife shot than a National Parks entry; if you look at the images in the top 5 in this challenge, you can see that a sense of place helps to nail down the feel of those entries. Meeting the challenge criteria is a sticking point here!

Feel free to PM me with any questions and I hope to critique more of your entries in the near future

Susan

Yellow Billed Stork
by satux

Comment by tvsometime:
My reaction (inappropriate as it might be) is to chuckle. There is such a humorously static quality as if this funny bird's bill is stuck. Only problem, not a "national park" but very entertaining capture. bump

Yellow Billed Stork
by satux

Comment by Ja-9:
Has to be Africa??? What a joy it would be to see one of these Storks...

Yellow Billed Stork
by satux

Comment by Ammie:
Super

Yellow Billed Stork
by satux

Comment by pixelpig:
Somebody should call the Sierra Club, alert them to all the wonderful photos in this challenge. It's truly amazing. What a beautiful planet we have to live on. Thanks for posting this shot.

Yellow Billed Stork
by satux

Comment by oberstpac:
absolutely perfect. The water is so glassy

Yellow Billed Stork
by satux

Comment by johnfr:
Perfect reflection, sharp. Good compositon.