Uploaded: January 04, 2006 06:41:00
As morning breaks and the fog lifts, this Ding Darling Roseatte Spoonbill takes first flight of the New Year, January 1, 2006. Canon 600 w 1.4 xt., 550 flash with better beamer at -1.00 fc for fill. ISO 800 - love my Canon 20D - minimal noise reduction in the background with Photoshop CS. NOTE - Ding Darling in Sanibel, Florida is alive with Roseattes, Reddish Egrets, White Pelicans, different shore birds, etc., etc., etc.....
Darold W. Kaestner January 04, 2006
Very nicely done! Really like the colors... I have to agree, the 20D is a excellent camera!Navin Talwar January 04, 2006
Reflection and the composition both excellent. #2251572Fax Sinclair January 04, 2006
This is crazy good! #2251588Crystal E. Berryman January 04, 2006
The photo is a "silent beauty." You can hear the silence. Truly a moment in time.Tamera S. Phillips January 04, 2006
Just a beautiful shot. Love the colors. #2252067Ronald Balthazor January 04, 2006
Amazing capture.Wende Trew January 04, 2006
This is a totally amazing image!! Fantastic detail!! #2253049Janine Russell January 05, 2006
Dick and Sara, awesome composition, colors, clarity and detail. #2253861Sara And Dick January 05, 2006
Dan, Navin, Fax, Crystal, Tamera, Ronald, Wende and Janine - We can't thank you enough for your words of encouragement! Your praise is very appreciated and after viewing your websites we doubly feel honored! We had the greatest time over at Sanibel (Ding Darling Wildlife Reserve) shooting these roseatte spoonbills. For a while they were taking off, landing, preening, in a feeding frenzy - we could not shoot fast enough. The secret is to get there in early morning (sunrise - but they open at 7:30) with low tide cause they will be out feeding on the flats. We hope to be going there again this weekend, but we are getting a cold spell with freezing weather... But we hope that we will still have the great photo ops we had last weekend. Thanks again and have a wonderfully beautiful and safe 2006!! Dick & Sara #2256375Corinne M. Thompson January 13, 2006
Very beautiful capture! #2285448Sara And Dick January 17, 2006
Corinne, Thank you for your kind comments! We made it back to Ding this weekend, the weather was bleak (cold and windy), but we managed to meet some very interesting people, and get some good shots too!!! All in all, we must say, we had a great time! Thanks again for your comments - Dick & Sara #2299632Nicole Kessel January 28, 2006
WOW! Awesome capture!! #2350252Donna W. Neal February 21, 2006
Congratulations on a well deserved finalist Dick and Sara (not sure who took the shot) #2444482Wayne T. Fisk February 21, 2006
Totally astounding! And you got the reflection and caught him at warp speed!James Reininger February 21, 2006
Wow!!! #2447488Anita Taylor February 21, 2006
Lovely color and capture of flight! Congratulations on getting finalist! #2450005Corinne M. Thompson February 21, 2006
Congrats to you both on this wonderful Finalist! :) #2450173Cindy Cone February 24, 2006
Congrats on this gorgeous finalist! It's a great capture of the spoonbill in flight with the reflection. Very well done! #2463368Deborah Sandidge February 25, 2006
Exquisite capture and reflection, congratulations Dick and Sara on this stunning winner! #2466754Mike F. Anderson February 25, 2006
Just Excellent!!! Congratulations on well deserved win. #2466985Isabel L February 25, 2006
This is such an intersting shot!! Congratulations! #2467089Jim Kinnunen February 25, 2006
Awesome image...congratulations!!! #2468400Donna La Mattino Pagakis February 25, 2006
Wow, fabulous winner!! Congratulations!! #2468444Corinne M. Thompson February 25, 2006
A well deserved win...Congrats :) #2468744Paula Kelly February 26, 2006
congratulations... excelllent #2469418Donna W. Neal February 26, 2006
Congratulations on this outstanding winnerI love my 20D also #2469876
Nan Fischer February 26, 2006
Wow. Beautiful bird, excellent shot! Congratulations on your win! #2470071Leanne M.E. Boyd February 26, 2006
Gorgeous shot, congratulations on your win! #2470686Bill Houghton February 26, 2006
This is really beautiful. Great work. Where in Sanibel is this place locates. Thanks, Bill #2471292Sara And Dick February 26, 2006
To all who have commented to us since 1/28/06 we can't thank you enough. We have tried a couple of times to expressed our gratitude but the reply would not go through.... Once again, thank you for expressing your appreciation of one of my favorite images. Dick Fortune #2471490Graeme yew Chow February 26, 2006
Excellent shot and congratulation ,, Dick. #2472616Allan L. Whitehead February 27, 2006
Dado, congratulations on this magnificent win in last month's contest in the 'Animals' category. It is truly, richly deserved, my very dear friend - your good friend, Allan #2473312Guy D. Biechele February 27, 2006
Spectacular capture!! Congratulations on your win. #2475135Sara And Dick February 28, 2006
Graeme, Allan and Guy - Thank you so much for your remarks on our "Rose". Sara and I hope to go back to Ding Darling soon and hope to come back with more images of these spectacular birds! Thanks again... #2480616Cathy M. Gromball March 21, 2006
Congratulations on your Second Place win, Dick & Sara!Cathy :) #2559135
Sara And Dick April 24, 2006
Cathy, we are so sorry for the delay in answering you - we would hate not getting a response on our comments. Please accept our apologies for our delay. We visited Ding Darling NWR New Year's Day only to catch massive ground fog where you could not see 150 feet in front of you. It took us forever getting there due to the foggy and hazardous conditions. Sara and I thought the trip would be wasted because we couldn't see any birds for water at the preserve due to the fog. Miraculously at about 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. the fog started to lift which, like squatting down and viewing underneath a table, we were able to see bird activity flying low to the water as they too needed to see in flight. This roseate flying below the fog bank was so close to the water that his/her reflection was caught in multiple frames. There was quiet a bit of grain since I was shooting at 800 ISO, necessary due to the low light. This picture sold for $475.00 at the CROW (Center for Rehabilitation of Wildlife) auction in Sanibel, at their annual fund raiser. We were happy to donate it and 8 others of our images for this worthwhile cause. Again, Cathy, thank you for your kind words and once again forgive our delay... Dick #2681955Crystal E. Berryman April 24, 2006
Dick,Debbie Del Tejo April 25, 2006
WOW, this one passed me by since in January I did not have computer..I just caught it and my mouth dropped. I AM SPEECHELSS!!!! ( for a change!)Sara And Dick April 25, 2006
Crystal & Debbie - thank you for your most generous comments!!!! They truly are appreciated. Sara and I wish that everyone could have the chance to see these unusually beautiful birds at least once in their lives - we see them now on weekends at Everglades National Park, but from a distance. There is an island where they have their rookery, but even my 600 with a 1.4Xt is not enough to get this type of shot(or anywhere near it). We were blessed with the opportunity to capture the spoonbills so close that they were on ocassion closer than 18 feet, which meant I could only look at them and not focus. On one ocassion I took my tripod and camera back about 20 feet so as to be able to keep shooting head shots and profiles as they swept their beaks in the shallow waters looking for food. Again thank you for your wonderful comments!!! Dick & Sara #2688231Baqer Mohd Jawad September 13, 2006
Great capture for this Spoonbill .. love it ! #3304661Sign up for an interactive online photography course to get critiques on your photos.
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