My first stop for wildlife viewing in Florida is the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I have always loved images of the Roseate Spoonbill, a bit of a crazy looking bird sort of like a flamingo except pink and with a bill that makes him look like he belongs in a circus. I cannot look at one without smiling. They make me happy.
I was rewarded on my very first visit with a spoonbill that posed for me said “what took you so long” in his cartoon character voice.
Sometimes when I am reviewing and processing my images I only see what is wrong with them. This reminds me of my whole state of mind before I changed my life. I am a natural at seeing the negative.
Yes, there is a cluttered background. Yes, the background is kind of – meh. I wish that bright green plant wasn’t in front of him.
And then I decided that I don’t care. Every photo cannot be perfect. When this bird talked to me it made me happy and I hope the image conveys that feeling.
LOve how you captured him with his bill open Anne. We are often our own worst enemy when looking at our images. I think it is normal as we are always looking to improve.
Hi Len, of course you are so right. I know I’m my worst enemy!! I seem to have an endless loop of “you suck” going around in my head but I’m working on that. I’m glad you liked the image. Thanks!
I like the image, it appears the critter is responding to your presence. Anyone that cares about there photography, examines it closely and you can always find something you wish was different. Good image
Hi Vern, yes that is true. We are always trying to make better images so it becomes part of our nature to compare our own work to others and see its defects. That’s really the only way we can improve. It’s kind of unfortunate that we have to look at our own work in a negative way in order to improve. I’m sure there are some inspired artist types out there who can create their own amazing works in a vacuum – but I’m not one of them. For me, art has become rather social and I’ve improved as a photographer because of it. Thank you very much for your feedback.
The photo makes me happy, too. And if it were in Flickr, I’d add it to my ‘birdsong’ gallery.
Hi Mim! I’m so glad you like it! You’ve reminded me to back into flickr again – I haven’t been active there for ages. I found you and added you as a contact so maybe when I get active over there again we can connect. I have a few bird images that might work in your gallery if you like them.
We are all our own worse critics. Your background is out of focus and the highlighted plant just shows dimension and his eyes are in focus, very nice image.
Hi Chuck, thank you for your feedback. I guess you are right, the most important technical thing in this type of image is the focus and I got that part right. Someone else mentioned that the plant gave habitat context so maybe it’s not as bad as I thought. I see you are on betterphoto! I have really enjoyed their online classes and I added you as a contact there. Thanks again for your visit and comments.
Well said, Anne! And yes, seeing the bird in your photo makes me happy too.
Hi Laurie, if he makes you happy then I’m happy too! That’s the whole point anyway isn’t it? If it conveys the feeling then I’ve done my job. Thank you very much for your comments.
You caught him in mid sentence, it’s great! That is definitely an interesting looking bird (Ok I think he’s down right ugly, a cross between a vulture, a flamingo, and duck billed dinosaur) but your story made me smile so already he’s starting to grow on me. Hope you got to see more while you were there.
Howard
Hi Howard, that is hysterical! You got it exactly right: vulture/flamingo/duck billed dinosaur!! 🙂 I did get to see a few more of them and an even uglier bird which is coming up on the blog tomorrow. I see you’re doing a 52 week project, good for you! Nice self portrait in a biker dog kind of way! Thanks for your visit and comments.
Anne I LOVE this image. You’ve captured him beautifully and he put a smile on my face too.
Thank you so much Edith, I really appreciate your comments.
What a character – cartoonish almost. When you’ve caught an image as good as this, the little niggles don’t matter. The subject of this post is so strong, everything else is immaterial. It’s a great shot, Anne!
Thank you so much Andy and thanks for your email too. I really appreciate your kind comments.
If we only posted images that we deemed “perfect” – not sure our art would be that interesting? I don’t know about you but I don’t think many of my shots are perfect, so I’d rarely have content to share. I do think this is one of the best blog post titles I’ve read in quite a while though!
Hi Michael. Good point, we would have far fewer images to share if we only shared perfection and for me the sharing of the image is the best part! Glad you liked the title 🙂 Thank you very much for your feedback.
I think it’s a fine image and the plant in front adds a bit of habitat context. Sometimes bird pics get to be too portaity for my taste… it’s like they might as well be taken in a zoo.
If I can ask, what lens were you using and how close were you to your spoonbill when you took this?
Hi Snowy, oh you reminded me that I totally forgot to talk about the LENS! I rented this fabulous lens – it’s a canon 400mm f/5.6L. Awesome lens, it was so sharp I just loved it. It was the first time I have ever rented and it is so worth it! It cost me around $85 for a week including insurance and shipping for a lens that would cost around $1500 to buy (thank you “thelenspal”). I would guess that I was around 50 feet away from the bird. Thanks for your comment about habitat context – you have a good point there.
Wow, that is an awesome looking bird! I’ve never seen a spoonbill before, but now I’d love to catch a glimpse of one in the wild. But FWIW, I think this is a great photo. 🙂
Hi Christy, thank you very much for your visit and I’m so glad you liked my friend “Spoonie”. They are such goofy looking birds! I really appreciate your comments.
I want to have this guy over for dinner to toss and serve the salad. I see where they get their name. I love your spoonbill too. I love all your photos. They let me see things I may have never seen. Keep them coming.
Hi Crystal! Great to see you, we miss you and Dynamo! I’m glad you are following along in our journey and are enjoying the photos. I’ll have to ask Spoonie if he wants to come home with me, you never know he might have dreams of being a salad tosser one day 🙂
Terrific spoonbill, Anne! Yeah, I could live without the gray sticks behind him, but my focus is most definitely on the splendid bird.
Thank you very much Jackson. I was thinking afterwards that maybe I should try cloning out the grey sticks since they are rather distracting. I can’t do anything about that green plant though but now, after everyone’s comments, I am starting to like the plant!