Groups of birds in flight are hard to photograph well but I like the way this one turned out.
1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
It includes 17 White-faced Ibises flying low over the Great Salt Lake. The warm early morning light gave the very dark ibises a golden glow, all of the birds are sharp, I got a variety of interesting wing positions and considering how many birds there are I have pretty good separation of individuals. I didn’t have to cut off any birds at the frame edge to get a composition that works for me and even the interloping gull with its reflection serves the purpose of anchoring the ibis flock to the almost mirror-like surface of the very shallow water.
For me there’s some visual tension in the image, for two reasons.
My eye keeps looking for ibis reflections on the water that just aren’t there. In particular I expect to see at least a partial reflection from the ibis directly above the gull, the one with its wings down. It appears to be only inches directly above the gull and since the gull has a distinct reflection it seems like that ibis should too, at least a partial one. It must be lacking a reflection because the flock is closer to us than it appears to be.- a spatial distortion resulting from using a long focal length, effectively 1120mm in this case.
The morning sun was somewhere behind me when I took the photo so I also keep looking for at least some bird shadows on the water behind the ibises but they aren’t there either. I can’t explain that one quite so glibly but whatever the cause I find the tension of both little visual mysteries interesting rather than detrimental.
On the other hand it’s ‘only’ a flock of birds. The eye of the beholder I guess…
Ron
I love this photograph, Ron. It looks like a beautiful painting that I would love to hang in a prominent place in my home. I could look at the graceful birds sweeping effortlessly over the water and dream. So peaceful.
Much appreciated, Melanie. Thank you.
Rare bird here. I’ve never seen one. I’m envious, and impressed you got the whole bunch in the photo, even though you say you were far away. Do you often see them in numbers like that?
Thanks, Lyle. Yes, we often see them flying in groups even larger than this one.
Great composition. Really good timing. This is one I would have been very happy with had I been lucky enough to take it. There is something very special about “dino” birds like these and the gull provides an extra layer of interest.
Thank you, Granny Pat.
Very nice and all relatively sharp, not easy with multiple subjects.
Thanks, April. It helped that I wasn’t particularly close to them.
I wholeheartedly agree that their dinosaur ancestry is on display too.
Only shmonly.
Yet another stunner.
Thanks, EC.
Really, a beautiful picture!
Thanks very much, John.
Beautiful. We have them in the California Central Valley – up close, they are always smaller than I expect. Colors are fantastic. And their heads, like most heron-type birds, are prehistoric looking.
“up close, they are always smaller than I expect”
For me too, Sallie. And I agree about their prehistoric look. And then there’s that pig-like call they make when they’re alarmed…
Absolutely beautiful and weird. Reminds me of an Escher picture
Frances, I’ll be honest and admit I had to look Escher up. I was familiar with some of his work but I didn’t recognize the name.
Anyone who thinks “only a flock of birds” may want to see themselves to the door. 😉
I remember being amazed to learn that we had ibises in the US. For some reason, I thought they were only in Africa. 🙂 I was young!
Arwen, I have a similar memory.
Many years ago I read a newspaper article saying that the Utah Museum of Natural History was getting an ibis mummy, complete with wooden sarcophagus, from Egypt for their collection. So I knew that ibises were found in Africa but I didn’t learn that we had them until sometime later.
I was ‘young’ too…
Beautiful! 🙂 Beautiful, glowing colors. It IS interesting that there are no reflections given the fact the gull has one. The gull DOES anchor the shot.
I’ve never seen them in flight- only once in a field and only a couple. Had to take a picture as I didn’t know what the heck they were at the time….. 😉
“Had to take a picture as I didn’t know what the heck they were at the time”
That’s understandable, Judy. They can be pretty strange looking birds, especially up close.
My favorite part of this photo is the gull. He is like the security guard in an art museum. His reflection makes him more substantial than the Ibises, like he is real and they are art work.
That’s an interesting perspective, Porcupine – it made me think. This is an older photo and I’ll bet the reason I didn’t post it long ago was because the gull was there. Live and learn…
A rare long shot for you, I love it!
Thanks, Stephanie.
Love this photo, like the streamline position, and the marvel that they’ve learned to fly with their curved beak at the forefront.
Terri, for some reason that curved beak looks almost nonfunctional to me.