Green Heron in flight

[Bob Serling]

Here's a shot I got yesterday while looking for Clapper Rails at one of our local lagoons in San Diego. We don't see many Green Herons as the population is low and they are much more shy than other types of herons, so it was very nice of him to cruise by!

Canon 1D Mark IV, EF 300mm f/2.8 v2 with EF 1.4X III. ISO 800, f/5.0, 1/3200, hand held.

Thanks in advance for all comments and critiques.

[stuart wanuck]

Terrific banking image those birds are small nice action

[Lyle Gruby]

Always love seeing the dorsal view of a BIF, especially when it's a rarely seen BIF like a green heron. IQ has really suffered here as it appears this is a large crop?

[Bob Serling]

Yes it is a large crop. Despite being about 30 feet away, these are very small for herons.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent dorsal banking pose. The large crop unfortunately hurts the details.

[mohammad reza shahab]

Great flight pose and nice colors

[David Salem]

What a great looking Pose you caught him in. Nice colorful eye I like the feather etching on the Wings. This just looks like too big of a crop for this Image Bob. 50% less crop will help to preserve some more detail. Nice capture though.

[gail bisson]

Love the pose. Good light and BG.
I have to agree with the others about the IQ. Which is a pity because this is a very striking image,
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Bob, Lovely flight pose. Please be so kind as to post a JPEG that represents the full frame original. a

[Bob Serling]

Will do later today!

[Bob Serling]

Will do later today!

[Bob Serling]

Hi Artie,

Here's the full image you asked me to post.

Thanks,

Bob

[Jonathan Ashton]

My first thought was lovely shot but has it been cropped a little too much as I felt image quality was suffering a bit. I would suggest a more modest crop and the quality would be much better. I like the darker blue shadow on the water.

[David Salem]

Way too big of a crop for the capture size Bob. It's Probably 80% or better. Loosen it up quite a bit, keep the shadow in front of it and clone out the wing reflection below. I think it will look more than acceptable.
I wouldn't mind seeing a re-post from you, because the shot looks worth the effort.

[Arthur Morris]

David is 100% correct. This repost works for me. a

[Bob Serling]

Thanks everyone - I learned a lot from this!