Scarlett ibis

Scarlett ibises are especially striking because the red color of their feathers is so intense. I photographed this one in Brazil on a day when the sky was overcast. Colors show up in pictures on cloudy days as particularly saturated. This is contrary to what many people think. It's commonly thought that bright sun increases saturation; it's the opposite that's true. I took this shot with a Canon 100-500mm zoom set to 500mm, and the settings were 1/500, f/5.6, and 1600. I waited until the bird turned and gave me a profile view so I could capture that unlikely beak with sharpness. At f/5.6, had the bird looked at the camera, the beak would have been out of focus. I don't like out of focus foregrounds.