Recently I posted a single photo of a landing White-faced Ibis. Below is the entire six image series.
All photos are presented in the order they were taken.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Six days ago I managed to keep focus mostly locked onto this ibis as it approached its intended landing spot in a bit of shallow liquid water among all the ice at Bear River MBR. The background in many of the photos may not be particularly attractive to some viewers but it’s the environment many birds live in this time of year. In most of the shots I was lucky to get flight postures that highlighted the iridescence of the ibis as compensation.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This is the only one that’s a little soft but I’m including it to make the series more complete.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This is the image I posted five days ago. I’m including it here for the same reason and because it just might be my favorite of the bunch.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
But I like this one too, even though the iridescence is less noticeable. The light and feather angles are just about perfect to define every individual feather on the left wing.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I do wish I had a little more room at the bottom of the frame in some of these shots to give the ibis more room to fly into and possibly even show where it’s intending to land but this is preferable to clipped or cut off wings, that’s for sure.
The first five photos above are sequential without any skips but after this one, when the forward momentum of the bird suddenly diminished, there were three frames where I either clipped wings or the landing poses were so similar I left them out.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Here the ibis has just touched down into the shallow water as evidenced by the water boil caused by its large splayed feet hitting the surface.
This is the only ibis landing series I’ve ever liked well enough to keep because given their typical preferred feeding habitat the close and contrasty backgrounds usually cause me to lose sharp focus on the bird. And this time I even had a good light angle and resulting significant iridescence as a bonus.
Ron
Note to photographers: Sharp eyes may have noticed that rotation to level was a bit of an issue in some of these shots, for two reasons. Either there were no reliable cues as to what “level” actually was or rotating to level had more of a negative impact on the aesthetics of the image than not rotating at all (in my judgment).
That’s like watching a colorful ballet. Beautiful Ron!
Thank you, Jean.
That beautiful iridescence just blows me away! WOW! And those are some awesomely cool feet! 🙂
Hope your back pain is still tolerable — thinking about you whenever I see snow in the UT forecast.
I’m sorta hanging in there, Marty. Thanks for your concern. More snow in the mountains coming though… 🙂
Interesting ‘water-boil’…have not photographed that phenomenon before. I am hard-pressed to choose a favorite photo in this series; they are all winners. This is a bird I have not seen in person…I really would like to though. That coloring is quite fascinating…such luminescence. Also seeing the actual size of this bird would be interesting…Cornell puts them in the ‘Crow’ size…in the photos I would surmise it be more of the GBH or SandHill Crane size. Interesting…pictures can be deceiving without a known specific present.
I’d have estimated they’re slightly larger than crows but not by much, Kathy. Interestingly, I’ve photographed large flocks of crows feeding in this same area and if I remember correctly there were crows just out of frame when I took this series of photos.
Yet more evidence that taking the time to look at the ‘plain janes’ pays dividends – and shows how wrong we were in our first assessment.
And yet another delightful series.
Thank you, EC.
Gorgeous birds/series with all the iridescence and motion in, what appears to be, a slightly ungainly bird as well as one that doesn’t appear near so beautiful when wings are folded and it’s just standing …… 🙂 In theory we are within their range – guessing we don’t see them do to very little “swamp land” 😉 -12 with -29 windchill this morning….WHEE! 🙁
Judy, I think they often look even more than just “slightly” ungainly but they can sure be attractive and colorful too. Bundle up and keep warm!
Could be one of your best series ever. The dazzling iridescent colors are beautiful. Perfect lighting that picks up his eye on every shot. Perfect lighting and timing along with a highly skilled photographer makes a bird that is often ignored into a star. Excellent photos Ron.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
It’s certainly my best ibis series, Everett. I was happy to get it. Thank you for the kind words.
It’s a wonderful series Ron! Thanks for sharing!
Charlotte
Thank you, Charlotte.
That’s one unique-looking, beautiful bird! Thanks for sharing!
Unique is right, Heidi. They look like no other species I regularly photograph. Some of their calls are unique too – their alarm call as they take off makes them sound like pigs in flight. Always makes me think of Pink Floyd…
I really enjoyed this series, especially the final frame for the underwing detail–probably if one just had a “passing glance” at this unusual and beautiful bird, the eye wouldn’t even
pick up the gorgeous and very subtle iridescent hues– thanks for this treat !
You’re right, Kris. “Passing glances” just don’t do them justice. If you have patience and wait for the right opportunity they can provide some evocative photos.
Love this series! Its hard pick a favorite because quite a few of them are so good. Thanks for sending photos that show your process.
It’s nice to play “catch-up” on your blog this morning and check out the posts I have missed while sipping on a cup of good coffee!
I hope you’re enjoying the catch-up process, Joanne. Thank you.