Fishing

Waaauuuu "The Decisive Moment" 7/7

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Very nice shot Miguel. Perfect timing on the capture and an ultra sharp image. This would look so nice printed large and then framed on the wall. Bravo! all the way.

This photo hands down, is the best wildlife photo I have ever viewed on this site or any where else for that matter. Very well done. Miguel, would you be willing to share how much post processing sharpening you did on this shot?

The moment captured here (and the way it was captured, whith the highlights and spread of the water droplets and depth of field) is so good it looks fake, but it's not.

I know we are supposed to say what we like about the shot, and dislike. There is nothing I don't absolutely love about this picture. The timing is impeccable, and the sharpness is stunning. One of, if not the best nature shot I've seen on this site. I can feel the water spray! 7/7

Now this is a WOW. There is action, tension, just the right amount of motion blur. The sparkling water drops against the darker background put us right in the middle of the capture of the fish. Perfect DOF.

 

I see the tiny red water drop and wonder if that is a prism type of light reflection in the drop. There is just sooooooo much detail and yet the main subject is not diminished.

 

I had to visit your page, and so saw your magazine cover photos. Congratulations on the publications. Thanks for the fine example of excellent wildlife photography.

It's all been said - just perfect timing and perfect shot. It's so detailed it looks like a drawing. Very well done and I'm jealous!

There is so much action in this photo, yet the timing and sharpness are perfect....leaves me

shaking my head at the skill involved to bring it all together.

I like the shot but it's cropped a bit too tight.

I would have liked to see more of the wings, splash etc.

 

Maybe post an uncropped version?

No, you would definitely not want to show more of the wings, as by showing more you would lose the dynamic of where both of the eyes end up in the piece, in the vertices of the rule of thirds. The balance is superb, and by adding more space that would center both sets of eyes towards the middle, and that my friend is not a good thing.

Wow, terribly sharp image. I love the details captured in this shot, perfect timing, perfect exposure.

Am I the only one wondering how the bird is managing to hold the fish when the claws are merely resting on it's skin and not penetrating at all?

Steve, Those claws are like needles, piercing the flesh from the side not visible.

 

Absolutely outstanding. Love the crop.

 

so jealous...so jealous...

Please don't get me wrong, but I want more. What's the opposite of crop? I don't know if this image has been cropped, but I suspect it has been. I would like it with a bit more of that wonderful turbulent water at the bottom and a little more wing at the top. Never-the-less, this photograph is the type of thing that all of us want to achieve at least once in ouur lives. Absolutely marvelous. You talk about your WOW factor, This has a WOW POW factor. Did I just make a pun? Sorry.

 

Willie the Cropper

depiction of the struggle for life. Miguel, this is Great !

Several comments have been directed towards the crop of this photograph. For me, I like it the way it is. Regards.

Miguel I do not understand too much of photography but the most powerful point in this picture is fish's eye. great. It seems like they are both talking with you and looking to you in a way trying to say: "Why are you shocked? this is a part of our lives and we both accept and like it!"

Good luck

The composition and skill of the photographer are magnificent.

 

To critique, I would say the feathers on the head near the eye appear blown out, and the web presentation appears slightly over sharpened.

The subjects are separated from the background nicely, The whole photo screams action and it's clear.

 

Who can critique a nature shot like this one, which is more about capturing an event that'll never happen again!

 

Nice job.

Nice shot. I don't know if you croped the image or what we see is what you capture from your lens. I would like it even better if I could see the wings.

Great shot, no blurr at all.

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I love the diagonal composition created by the wing (exiting the frame in the upper right) & the eyes of both the bird & the fish & ends with the water splash in the lower left. I also like the amazing clarity of both eyes.

 

But, one thing that keeps drawing my eyes away from the subjects is the little "flare", of what I assume is a water droplet, in the upper left outer quadrant. As minuscule as it is, I can't block it out. I think it detracts from the perfectly timed capture.

While this might be a good nature shot, I would not give it a very high rating for originality. There are (and have been) thousands of shots of birds pulling fish out of water, and I cannot really tell what makes this original. Yes, the bird is in perfect focus and there is water frozen in motion, but that has been done before. One may argue that any subject has been done to such a point as to render it inherently unoriginal. Female nudes are a perfect example: How many different ways can one take a picture of a woman? The answer is an infinite amount; the complexity of the human body in combination with the myriad of possibilities of lighting and composition mean that it is close to impossible to exhaust this category. With the above picture, the photographer is limited by his static position and the predictability of the bird. On the other hand, 99.9999% of the nudes being made today are unoriginal. For a bird picture to be original, it would have to be something no one has every seen and few have imagined. i am curious to know what exactly makes this photo original.

i agree with noah... i do not find it as stunningly original... although given the time constraints of such shots i doubt the photographer can do much about originality...

one more thing that bothers me about this shot is the sheer amount of water in the air... im frankly not a fan of this much sharply focussed water... it makes the image (very) chaotic and since they appear so sharp they (imho) dont add to the motion/speed/action that the rest of the picture is trying to convey...

in conclusion, i am not particularly awed by this photo, however it is definitely accurate in its representation of nature...

At first, I also thought the crop was too tight. But this photograph is really about dramatic angles and getting in tightly on the action. Being close up also emphasizes the texture of the water. It almost looks like it's coming out of the plane of the photograph. The background does have a couple of distracting elements, which should be toned down.