Snowy Egret...White on White

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image on the city fishing pier on Anna Maria Island, Florida. The Snowy Egret stole a fish from a bait bucket and flew to the roof of a shack on the pier. The background is the white of a cloud. Working up the image high key seemed to fit the image. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 VR AF-S ED shot at 300mm (450mm FFE)
1/1600 F/5.6 Matrix Metering 0 EV ISO 180
Post processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped for composition

[Karl Egressy]

Nice high key image, Joe.

[Lorant Voros]

Indeed nice high key image. I would have preferred a better head angle from the bird and maybe a higher shooting angle. Thanks for sharing and keep them coming.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

The eye of the fish is sharper than the heron. Perhaps this is a large crop as the detail seems to be lacking?
I totally love the high-key feel though.

[gail bisson]

I like the way the fish's body angle mimics the neck.
I like the white on white. Nice lines throughout the image. Good choice on crop.
The IQ seems a bit off here.
It looks like the focus point was on the fish so the egret's eye falls out of the DOF to be tack sharp.
There isn't much detail in the shoulder.
Is this a big crop? was the image under or over exposed? I am just trying to figure out why the IQ is off.
Gail

[Marina Scarr]

While I agree with IQ issues, I think this image really works and I totally like what you were going for. Keep thinking outside the box!!!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting and offering suggestions and opinions. To those who mentioned that the fish's eye appeared more sharp than the birds... I think it is because as I raised the exposure for the high key look the fish was becoming washed out. To get detail back in the fish I added clarity to just the fish. Maybe backing off on that clarity or adding sharpening to the eye and surrounding area will correct what you see. I will have to find a balance that works. Thanks again everyone.