Portrait of a Snowy Egret

[andresleon]

Hello Forum,
My first post here. Looking forward to the virtual beat down! :)

Took this image at the Gatorland Rookerly last year. This egret was a great model and didn't mind being photographed extensively! I applied a vignette and also enhanced colors and details a little. Looking to hear from you if maybe I went too far with these adjustments or if I should have looked at other issues.

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/3c4m622k8wihsok/gatorland052012-9912-Edit.jpg?token_hash=AAF6QsXik3THhJ_jMbxBwr36gv9izi J5K1dd-tnwWYInnw&dl=1


Canon 7D - f/8 - 1/400sec - ISO 500 - 100-400 L lens at 275mm Focal Length - No flash

[Evan Cain]

I really like this BG and the back lighting. The "S" curve of the neck is very pleasing to the eye also. The bird isn't very sharp though, try another round of sharpening.

And welcome to the forum :)
I just joined also.

[Rick Poulin]

A very pleasing image. More detail in the feathers would be nice.

This is a Great Egret not a Snowy. Snowies have a black bill.

[Dave Leroy]

Welcome and well done. Photo has a nice artsy feel to it with the bright green bg and back lighting on egret. I am not sure why but as mentioned photo is lacking fine details.

[andresleon]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions! And I thought that I had over sharpened the image too much. Could you be a little more specific and tell me where you see the softness I thought the bill and eye was very sharp? Perhaps the bottom neck?

And Rick! Yes, indeed you are correct; this is a Great Egret. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Marina Scarr]

A big welcome to BPN and congratulations on your first post. Lovely subject and I just love how the BG matches this Great Egret's green lores. Where you using center point focusing here or all points? If not center point, I would suggest that you try it. In this case you could have put the focus point on the bird's eye (which is the most important part to have tack sharp) and then recomposed. I would suggest a little more sharpening of the head area as well.

I think I had better get over to Gatorland and see what kind of activity is taking place before I miss it!!

[Dave Leroy]

Excellent advice about focusing if that is not what you are doing.
Did you sharpen the photo before or after resizing for web posting? It needs to be sharpened after resizing.

[andresleon]

Thank you, Marina! I used AF point expansion located on the center, focused on the eye, and then recomposed the image. In cases like this, in which the subject is quite still, maybe I should have used one point focusing.

Dave, I sharpened before resizing the image. I will try resizing after to see the difference. Thanks!