Maria Mazo, PPSA
October 2026 - Flamingo
Original
About the Image(s)
For this month’s image, I chose this one of a flamingo that I took earlier this year at Basel Zoo, during one of my visits to see my daughter, who lives there. The sun was very strong that day, and the light was quite difficult to manage, as the flamingos were constantly moving between the sunnier and darker areas. I was so concentrated on getting some nice poses before they moved again that I ended up with the shot slightly overexposed. Fortunately, I was able to recover it quite easily by lowering the exposure a little during editing. EXIF data -- Shutter speed: 1/1250 sec; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 1000; Camera: Canon R6 II; Lens: Canon 100??“500mm zoom lens, used at 324mm. Handheld.
10 comments posted
The words that came to me when I first viewed were lovely and sweet. Love it especially your ability to process it to soften the light and the framing was spot on. Posted: 10/03/2026 18:13:14
Hi Steve, thank you for your feedback, I am glad that you like the image Posted: 10/25/2026 14:50:23
Beautiful sweeping lines and colors -- very creative. I think what might of helped here is to expose for the white feathers so they would not be blown out, and then use a fill flash to bring out the important features of the face. I love the cropping you chose, which is why maybe you could crop in from the left so that the framing would be tight on all sides. Posted: 10/08/2026 22:03:33
Hi Jerry,
I'm glad you like the crop, as my intention was to create a nice S-curve composition. Thanks for your suggestion about using flash to fill in the shadows! Posted: 10/25/2026 14:53:33
I'm glad you like the crop, as my intention was to create a nice S-curve composition. Thanks for your suggestion about using flash to fill in the shadows! Posted: 10/25/2026 14:53:33
Unusual composition and beautiful color. The original image seems to be over-exposed, but you have recovered enough to show the bird's beauty. In India I have seen Flamingos, but your image has represented nice and colorful. I desired to see the complete image of this flamingo. Anyway, thank you for sharing it. Posted: 10/10/2026 17:41:41
Hi Sanat,
Thank you for your comment! It was difficult to isolate the bird completely from the others, so I decided to go for a tighter portrait, playing with the position of its neck to create a more intimate and artistic image. Posted: 10/25/2026 14:56:34
Thank you for your comment! It was difficult to isolate the bird completely from the others, so I decided to go for a tighter portrait, playing with the position of its neck to create a more intimate and artistic image. Posted: 10/25/2026 14:56:34
Maria - you have done very well here in the taking of this particularly. I've been many times by flamingo enclosures in Bird zoos (or aviaries, ie captive, but many have much natural space to roam) - the point it, that it is challenging to isolate a single bird the way you've done to get something you can work on when home. It's all about creating something artistic and different.
You've done this in spades here. No other bird. Lovely shapes and colour variations. I love the half closed eye. Perfect background. You clearly were after an artistic shot in the way the curve of its neck is right in the top right corner - impressive!
Do you know the species? Not the American type - Greater I think. Posted: 10/16/2026 07:16:46
You've done this in spades here. No other bird. Lovely shapes and colour variations. I love the half closed eye. Perfect background. You clearly were after an artistic shot in the way the curve of its neck is right in the top right corner - impressive!
Do you know the species? Not the American type - Greater I think. Posted: 10/16/2026 07:16:46
Hi Adrian,
I'm glad you like the image and the lovely pink tones displayed by this flamingo. I don't know much about flamingos, so I'm afraid I can't tell you which species it is. Thank you for your kind comment! Posted: 10/25/2026 14:59:08
I'm glad you like the image and the lovely pink tones displayed by this flamingo. I don't know much about flamingos, so I'm afraid I can't tell you which species it is. Thank you for your kind comment! Posted: 10/25/2026 14:59:08
What an artistic photo of a bird! Flamingos have such graceful necks, you've captured a really nice shape as it curves around.
I like that you cut off the bird at the corner. It creates an edge or border to that corner and helps keep the viewer focused on the bird's eye and beak. If you'd included the whole neck, our eye would wander off the bird in to the background there. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but anyway I think it's a very effective composition choice. I also like the crop on the left making a square-ish frame, which suits the subject well.
The bokeh balls in the background add a little sparkle which adds to the artistry.
Too bad about the over-exposure, but you've done a nice job of recovering it.
Posted: 10/21/2026 01:32:17
I like that you cut off the bird at the corner. It creates an edge or border to that corner and helps keep the viewer focused on the bird's eye and beak. If you'd included the whole neck, our eye would wander off the bird in to the background there. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but anyway I think it's a very effective composition choice. I also like the crop on the left making a square-ish frame, which suits the subject well.
The bokeh balls in the background add a little sparkle which adds to the artistry.
Too bad about the over-exposure, but you've done a nice job of recovering it.
Posted: 10/21/2026 01:32:17
Hi Cindy,
Thank you for your lovely comment! I'm glad you like my compositional choices in this image. I also like the bokeh in the background, as I think it adds to the artistic feel of the image. Posted: 10/25/2026 15:01:29
Thank you for your lovely comment! I'm glad you like my compositional choices in this image. I also like the bokeh in the background, as I think it adds to the artistic feel of the image. Posted: 10/25/2026 15:01:29