Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber)

This Scarlet Ibis was shaking the water from its wings when I caught this shot. When I saw the raw file on screen, however, I was struck not by the bird's actions, but by how dramatic the background seemed. That was enough to convince me the shot might be improved by knocking back the background colours to, paradoxically, add some atmosphere. In doing this, the Ibis's amazing hues were in turn brought to the fore.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/200th sec, f/6.3, 285mm at ISO 500.
Background saturation altered in Photoshop CS3