Great Blue Heron

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image of a friend at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED image captured at 400mm
1/1250 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +1/3 ISO 500 Auto 1 WB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC, Photoshop CC 2019 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped from 2x3 to 16x9 for composition and presentation

[Jack Backs]

Very nice portrait. Superb detail. Really like the background.

[John Mack]

Nice tight portrait. Great background. The details look very nice.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Absolutely beautiful, I am surprised you went for f5.6 I would most certainly have gone for f8 to f11, I think then the bill tip would have been spot on.

[gail bisson]

Nice solid tight portrait.
You got lucky with 5.6 and I would have gone for F8.
Is this a big crop?IQ looks good- I am just wondering about how you got such good DOF at 5.6
Gail

[Joseph Przybyla]

Nice solid tight portrait.
You got lucky with 5.6 and I would have gone for F8.
Is this a big crop?IQ looks good- I am just wondering about how you got such good DOF at 5.6
Gail

Hi Gail, here is a screen capture showing the focus point and image as imported. The depth of field was 3.15 inches. Using a crop sensor camera increases the depth of field because while the field of view is that of a 600mm lens the depth of field is that of a 400mm lens. I cropped the image tight to eliminate the back of the bird and because the IQ was strong. When working tight it is important to make sure the auto-focus is spot on through fine tuning the camera and lens. Later today when I can post another image I will post a tight image of a Anhinga where the depth of field was 0.75 inches. Thank you for viewing and commenting.

[annmpacheco]

Remarkable detail Joe, I really enjoy your images and skills, Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[Walker Noe]

Joe, fantastic IQ, exposure, everything. I would be tempted to push the saturation a bit and see how it looks. Just to give it that extra punch, not that I don't like it as is. Very solid image with a "budget" zoom and (very capable) crop sensor camera.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.

[Arthur Morris]

Everything here looks just ducky to me. I particularly love the powder blue at the base of the bill.

with love, arite

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very Tight Crop Indeed.

I like the Sharpness and Clean Background.

Well done.

[David Salem]

Nice sharp portrait Joe! Looks good to me