Pond heron

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

A pond heron scanning the water for prey.
1/800
f/5.6
ISO 1600
7D II
100-400 II @ 400mm (wide open)

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the alert pose, sharp with good details but a bit dark. I don't care much for the BG as it is distracting , especially the branches crossing the bird. If the BG was all dark or bright it would work much better.

TFS

[Ihtisham Kabir]

I like the silver background. Perhaps burn in the top and right to make the heron pop out more? (as the bright areas pull away the eye from the subject)

[arash_hazeghi]

Burning the bright areas will make it grey and in turn make it worse. :)

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the look of concentration, and the neat grip on the perch. I agree the background is unfortunate...many times, especially if a subject is cooperative, it is best to move around to find the best background to set it off against. I'll often skip on taking the picture if the background is not to my liking. Another option in this case, for those who have it, is to slap on the big gun (500mm or 600mm) plus TC and go for tight clean portraits.