Green Heron

[David Salem]

Took this last winter while at a pond with a few photography friends. I noticed a bird coming from the left with an unusual wing beat, a greenie in flight. I Dont see these birds flying much so I was happy to get a few nice frames as it flew by.
Not the best wing position but I like the head being separated from the wing.

1DMKIV---700mm---f5.6---ss1/2500---ISO800---HH@12:15 pm---30%crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. Appreciated

David

[PhilCook]

WOW...pretty darn special David ! Sharp detail, and I like the contrast on this making the colors stand out superbly . imo about as good an angle of shot for an in flight image as one could hope for....terrific eye and I like seeing both a hint of underside of the wing as well as the top side. I think the earthy..... { there's my word again lol }...backdrop color blends in very well to compliment the birds colors...leaps off the screen in a 3D way.

really not worth commenting further on this beauty, to change anything would be just stupidly pedantic of me....call me stupid :e3 but I reckon the head could stand just a smidgen more sharpen and one more round of noise reduction to back drop to make it ultra smooth....but did I mention the WOW factor!

[Joe Senzatimore]

Very special indeed. Not many of these in flight , and this one is a winner. BG sets it of great.

[stuart wanuck]

Nice hard to capture these guys!

[Barry Ekstrand]

David,

A really nice capture, the head and wing position are excellent in my book. I agree that just a little more sharpening would be good, and I would also see if the shadow area under the wing could be enhanced a bit with a little Nik Color Efex Detail Extractor (no more than 15% strength). Great shot!

Barry

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Here is a re-post with some more sharpening and another round of NR on the BG. I also opened up the under wing shadow. I think it finished it off well.
Thanks for the help.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, a species none of us normally see in flight, so well done for getting him in the frame. Colours look good, over a killer smooth BG.. With regards to the repost, sharpening on the head has turned out well, but the underwing on the near wing seems to have got some NR mixed in there. The feather detail is much clearer in your OP. :w3

[David Salem]

Stuart, I didnt erase the NR from the under wing, thought it might help in the noisier shaded under wing.
I do see the loss of detail there though. I will erase the NR there.
Thanks

[Robert Kimbrell]

Good job with that. I sure don't have any of these in flight. Nice sharp eye. Very nice b/g to show him off well

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful flight shot.
Great wing position, very nice light, wonderful background, and terrific comp.
Repost looks much better.
Well done.

[Steve Zamek]

This is one eye-catching image. Such a striking bird against that smooth dark background. The sharpened bird look good, with the NR exception as noted above. If it were mine, I might try brightening the image just a bit to see if I liked it better that way.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Repost a great improvement. Haven't gotten a good shot of one of these yet. Nice detail too

[Joe Murphy]

Great capture David, as others have said, you don't see many in-flights of these birds, very well done.

[gail bisson]

I have never seen a flight shot of this bird.
Perfect incoming angle and a killer BG.
Well done David, I am jealous!!
gail

[Melissa Groo]

Wow. Not an easy shot to get and you did it beautifully! Wonderful angle towards you, and love the light. Excellent work, David.

[Karl Egressy]

David, you are an excellent BIF shooter as I noticed long before. This is an other gem of yours.

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent flight shot, David. I like the color scheme.
Love the pose,colors,details and beautiful composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Arno Ellmer]

All has been said,David .Wonderful capture , beautifully presented.The RP is even better!

[David Salem]

Thank you everyone very much. Appreciated