The Hunt

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Taken last fall at Ft Desoto with my 300 lens. This tri color heron was putting on an amazing show for me while hunting for a meal.
1DMIII 300mm 2.8 with 1.4X
ISO 640 7.1@1/2500

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Cheryl - I like the raised foot, pose and reflection. Nice detail, color and sharpness. Well done.

TFS,
Rachel

[Ashleigh Scully]

Hi Cheryl -

This is a great shot! I especially like the layering of the background and how the background colors complement the bird's colors.

Great job!

[Troy Lim]

Great action, raised foot. Wish the wing was separated more from the body. Did you get a few before or after?

[christopher galeski]

nice capture,good light,love the raised foot,and as been said the BG colors compliment the colors of the bird.

[gail bisson]

Really nice shot Cheryl. Great POV and pose
I particularly like the waterfall effect on the near foot and the little splash in front of the heron suggesting that the prey dove under the water.
I find the image a tad flat overall and would boost the blacks a bit and the saturation ever so slightly.
I would clone out the specular highlight on the bill as well ( if not against your ethics),
Gail

[keith mitchell]

Hi Cheryl ,I like the way it's foot is ploughing through the water, very nice action shot that I would be well pleased with.

Keith.:S3:

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Love your low shooting angle and a look at that big foot with the dripping water. Dig the light reflecting on the body.
A slight more separation between the wings and the neck and a slight head turn our way would have been a bonus, but very nice as is.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The guys can be so fun to watch and photograph...almost Reddish Egret-ish. That is some pretty nifty water action going on there around the leg and foot. Nice low angle and layered BG. I was wondering about saturation so I am glad Gail brought that up, I agree.

[John Robinson]

Hi Cheryl
Everything fine- the foot and the water splash make it special. Nice angle of view too.
John

[Marina Scarr]

Good point about giving this image just a tad more punch. Love seeing the raised foot and all the water falling off of it. Nice seeing all those details on the feathers, esp those under the raised wing.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great action, raised foot. Wish the wing was separated more from the body. Did you get a few before or after?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Troy before or after what? My plunge into the Tampa Bay? LOL
Here is my repost. I boosted the midtones and a touch of contrast Removed the spec hilite which I thought I already did. I also removed a weird spot in front of the bird that was distracting me. Thanks for the suggestions .

[gail bisson]

Hi Cheryl,
I think this is too much. Instead of using curves I would go to Selective Coloring in Photoshop and increase the blacks by 1 or 2 points in the neutrals. The increase overall saturation by only a point or two.
I did it on your JPEG and I thought it looked good,
Gail

[Satish Ranadive]

Spectacular image, beautiful colors, very nice hunting pose with raised foot and flash of water.
Love the compo and low shooting angle.

Regards,
Satish.

[Frank Schauf]

Superb shot! Excellent pose, great background, and very nice details.