Images of the Month

Each competition month one of our members selects a digital image to be designated as Image of the Month. They will be choosing one that has a particular appeal to them, not necessarily the image that received the highest score. Each month’s image is chosen by a different member.

Image of the Month - November 2025

“Reddish Egret”

Photographer: Kim Ives
Selected by: Shealyn McGee-Sarns

About my image.

My "Reddish Egret" photograph was taken this year in March at dawn on the Black Point Wildlife Drive in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  This beautiful and threatened heron is often found in the area.  It has an energetic attitude while fishing in shallow water that looks like erratic dancing.  I used my Olympus OM-1 camera with the M. Zuiko 150-400mm F4.5 PRO lens with a 1.25X integrated teleconverter that I have set up exclusively for birding (and jets).  This photo was taken at 440mm, F5.6, ISO 640, 1/500 sec.  Very little post-processing was used, just the Auto Lightroom adjustment and cropping.  I particularly enjoy walking and photographing nature which is why I chose this camera and lens as it is fairly easy to maneuver and light enough to carry all day. 

- Kim

Why I liked the image.

This image really caught my eye while I was judging this month, one of those where I had to rotate my laptop to my husband and tell him "look at this!" The curve of the wing plus the perfect reflection moves your eye through the image so well and highlights the natural actions of the bird. - Shea

Previous Images of the Month