Great Egret wading to lunch

[Gerald Kelberg]

Although they are becoming increasingly common, the Great Egret is still something to get excited about in these parts.
But this one sat on the hard drive for a long time until I decided to try processing some older 1D mkIV images with DPP4.
Must say I am rather pleased with the result - especially the way the whites have worked against the darker background. What do you think?

1D MkIV, EF500mm f4L with 2.0 extender (1000mm)
1/1600 sec @ f/8 ISO 400
Processed in DPP4, Levels and curves adjustments in Photoshop.

Comments and feedback appreciated.

Gerald

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image, Gerald. Very nicely exposed whites with details. Beautiful colors in the frame and I like the dark BG and composition.
Wish vertical reflections of (what ever they are) in upper half ,would have been continued till top.

Regards,
Satish.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi Gerald, the Great Egret has recently become more common here during the summer months too (but extremely skittish). I'd be happy to get one so close when not in Florida! The whites against the darks do look good indeed. I also like the colour streaks in the water, but I do see Satish's point about them. Perhaps just a tad more sharpening on the egret would be good for web posting.

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi Satish - thanks for your comment. I think you are absolutely right - I need to stretch the coloured reflections of the reeds through to the top.

Hi Daniel - thanks for your thought about more sharpening for the web. I'm always concerned about pushing too far and making it crunchy, but I will look at this one again.

Best wishes, Gerald