Lesser Flamingos, Sewri

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Had been to the Sewri mudflats (in Mumbai) this morning to watch the last batches of flamingos. The light was against me in most of the situations and the sky was pretty overcast most of the time. Managed a few decent photos though. Here's one of them.

Lesser Flamingos Phoenicopterus minor. Distinguished from the greater flamingo by the darker pink plumage in the males, and a darker beak as compared to the predominantly light pink beak of the greater flamingo. And of course the smaller size.

Near full frame image. There was half a flamingo at the top right in the original. Made a small crop to remove its body, but unfortunately cant get rid of the hint of the legs, :(. Would have loved to get down to a lower angle, but it wasn't possible.

Camera Model Name Canon PowerShot SX10 IS
Tv (Shutter Speed) 1/320
Av (Aperture Value) 8.0
ISO Speed 100
Played with the levels and sharpened.

Thanks, C&C eagerly awaited.

[Bibhav Behera]

Hi Abhishek,
Nice to see these flamingoes. I like kicked up mud. The space on the left doesnt seem to add much. More on the right might have been better in my opinion. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I agree that moving the camera to the right would have been better. Why going lower was not possible?

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Thanks, I agree about the space.

Sabyasachi: I shot this from the edge of a jetty at Sewri from the lowest possible angle. It was not possible to get down from the jetty to ground level as the area below was completely made up of quicksand :D. The ground level (where the birds were) was approximately 8-10 feet below the jetty.

[Sagar Patil]

Lovely image Abhishek.

I liked the kicked off mud, reflection of legs of 3rd Flemingo.

I wish we would go again to shot these birds....

I always love to walk on mudflats...

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Hi Sagar,
I had been there today as part of a BNHS field trip. They have flamingo watching trips every year, today's was the last trip of this year. There were comparatively fewer flamingos, most of them have already left for Kutch. I don't think it's possible to go there on our own (i mean without the BNHS officials), since security has been tightened after the Mumbai Terror Attacks.

[Mrudul Godbole]

You did well in the given conditions. The reflection is interesting. The mud splash adds to the image. Thanks for sharing.

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Nice image Abhishek, the mud splash looks good. where is this place exactly in Mumbai?
tfs

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Praveen: Sewri is a port in Mumbai. Not sure how I can explain the exact location to you... It is close to the better-known Wadala area. It is one of the busiest fish-landing sites in the region.

[AB Apana]

Nice, I wish there was some separation between the top flamingos at top right.

Apana