Tri-colored Heron

[Wendy Kates]

I thought the pose of this tri-colored heron was interesting. Critiques welcome.
Canon 7D
300mm f/4 lens
ISO 640
f/4 at 1/4000 s

[Iain Barker]

I like this image. The image bird is nice and sharp and I agree the pose is interesting. Even though the background is busy I don't find this distracting.

The only thing I do find slightly distracting if the out of focus branch at the bottom left. It could possibly be cropped out vertically which would not really affect the bird in the image or it could be cloned out.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Hi Wendy. I agrree these tricolor herons are very interesting and you have captured the typical mating season ritual pose very nicely. He also has some great breeding colors going on. I have to agree about the stick and possibly a tighter crop. Although the bird is nice and sharp I find the light to be a little harsh so you may want to practice shooting more in the great morning light and later afternoon light to avoid the mid day high sun. It makes a huge difference IMO.

[Bob Miller]

Wendy! Nice pose captured here and good techs....I would clone out the stick and shoot with better light......early or late....overcast is also very good....just avoid harsh light whenever possible...it makes a huge difference!

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks to all of you for your feedback. I made this image at Gatorland in Orlando in late April. Although I arrived there at 7:30am, I think that I shot this toward the end of my morning...probably about 10:30...and by then the sun was pretty high in the sky. (But it was my last morning in Florida, and the birds were so plentiful, close, and tame at Gatorland, that I couldn't bring myself to leave!)