The photograph below is a Roseate Spoonbill with breeding colors.
Roseate Spoonbill landing at the Alafia Banks rookery – Florida.
ISO 400 | f/7.1 | 1/1600 | Manual Mode w/ evaluative metering 0 EV | AI servo focus
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens with a 1.4x III Extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III, mounted on a Jobu Design Gimbal head, over the Manfrotto 190CX carbon fiber tripod.
This Roseate Spoonbill photograph was created while landing on the mudflat. As the bird needs to brake over a short distance, one can admire the pink color of its under wings. Some people might confuse this bird with a Flamingo due to its pink colors, but as you see it is a quite different bird. The pink color comes from a pigment found in its diet. During the breeding season, the Roseate Spoonbill gets almost reddish spots on its upper wings, with a brighter pink and a rusty color on its tail, shoulders and around the eyes. The Roseate Spoonbill can be tricky to photograph as it has a white neck, which tends to easily get highlight burns when shooting. The trick is to dial some negative exposure compensation while in Av mode, or keeping an eye on the histogram while in manual mode. As often, I used a bit of Detail Extractor from Color Efex Pro 4 plug-in of Nik Softwares for the image optimization, and a bit of background cleaning.
The photograph below is an American Flamingo.
American Flamingo at the Lago De Los Flamingos, in Isabela, in the Galapagos Islands.
ISO 400 | f/6.3 | 1/1250 | Manual Mode w/ evaluative metering 0 EV | AI servo focus
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens, the Canon EOS 5D mark III, mounted on a Jobu Design Gimbal head, over the Manfrotto 190CX carbon fiber tripod.
This American Flamingo photograph was created in the late afternoon, in a lake where Flamingos often come visit, in the Galapagos Islands. As for Roseate Spoonbills, the pink color comes from their diet. Notice how the neck and head are of a brighter pink-orange than the upper wings feathers.
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Steven