Tricolored Heron with Chicks

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk IV, 500mm f/4L IS, 1/250, f/8, ISO 800
Ambient exposure set for BG, manual flash to add light to the birds.
Full Frame.

Photographed in May of last year during the Shoot The Light Technical Series at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.

[Faraaz Abdool]

Hi Mike,

Looks like you had a difficult situation on your hands here - bright bg with birds in shade? The twig in front the adult's head is a bit distracting, as well as some of the other little twigs protruding into what would otherwise be a delicious blurred bg. The birds are tack sharp, I'd say good use of flash here.

[Ivan Ellison]

A nice image , which shows the benefit of the flash to lift the image- must invest in a decent one soon. As said above a couple of twigs just distract and I would have cloned them out, however it is what it is, a nest built of sticks. Love the little ones wide open gape.

[Randy Stout]

Mike:

Those are some young chicks! Nice interaction captured.

Overall I like the flash work. I might consider toning down the nest in the foreground a bit more. And maybe lower the luminosity of the BG just a sliver. Personal taste.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nest photography like this can be a challenge. The flash work is very well done, especially with that beautifully bright BG (I would remove the OOF line almost touching the shoulder). I love the leaves in URC! The comp works well overall but I'm not a fan of the leg skimming in and out of the frame at left edge...

[Barry Ekstrand]

I am a fan of herons, and of birds in their natural settings. I really enjoy seeing mama and her chicks in the nest. Others have made good suggestions composition-wise, I just want to say congratulations on a great shot!

Barry

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Mike,

It's fun to see an image like this one. I always see the LBH making loud noises, flying around, and never really settling down. To see this side of the bird, well it's something else.

As Daniel mentioned, I would remove the oof branch on the right side. The flash here is spot on, and the timing is great (look at the little guy's wide open mouth!)

Miguel

[Dennis Zaebst]

Beautiful image Mike. I'm ok with most of the nest material, as I've shot nesting birds quite a lot and I know the twigs just won't cooperate with me. The only one I would try to remove is the one snaking up in front of the adult's beak and just in front of the chick's head on the right. Other than that...great use of flash (I've got to remember to use flash more often when it's called for!). Very well done.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Terrific interaction captured.
Very nice background, excellent details, and I really like the comp.
Very well done.

[Melissa Groo]

Wonderful portrait, Mike. Amazing how both ghastly-looking and adorable those chicks can be at the same time. I am fine with the twigs and the background. Nice flash work, looks very natural.
I see what Daniel means about the leg along the left edge being distracting. I would either try to include the whole thing or clone it out.
Overall a super image.

[Marina Scarr]

This was obviously a difficult nest to photograph with all the twigs. Why do the best nests always have at least one stray twig?

I absolutely love your BG. You did a great job with the flash. For me, the leg or part thereof has to stay to ground the image. While I am not a fan of tampering with images, in this particular case I would make an exception and consider losing the long twigs in front of the adult and the one behind the left chick. I would also consider cropping to the upper portion of the diagonal branch in the very bottom left corner.