Egret and seafood dinner

[Paul Burdett]

Photographed this Egret 45mins or so before sunset. PP in acr and PS, including a small crop, removal of distracting stones/boulders in the foreground, selective NR, selective Nik 50/50 recipe at around 25% and some sharpening before resizing to post here.
7Dii,100-400@400mm, 1/3200th sec, f5.6, iso400, manual exposure hand-held. Thanks for looking...feedback always appreciated.

[David Roach]

Love the OOF water BG, the late light right in the face and the prey item. Only wish for more on the bottom. TFS

[Paul Burdett]

Hi David. The original image had more at the bottom, but I cropped closer to cut the boulders/rocks...as I found them distracting. I might take a look at the raw file again and leave more at the bottom. Cheers.

[David Cowling]

Lovely lighting on this bird. Lots of detail in the white feathers. The eagle eyed look and the prey item really add to the image. A bit more at the bottom and a view of the feet would have been nice.TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the shrimp and the HA, the light angle was not the best leaving shadows and the bird doesn't have any fine feather details from here and it's a bit too tight in the btm

TFS

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Arash. Thanks for the feedback. I did crop quite close to the feet as there were rocks to the left and right which I thought were distracting. Here's the original before cloning. Apart from the feather details and light that you mention, is it better with the rocks left in? Foe me...no, but your opinion would be appreciated. Cheers.
Afterthought...maybe clone the larger rock to the left and leave those on the immediate left and right of the Egret?

[John Mack]

Nice view of the prey and i like the water. I prefer the original.

[Arthur Morris]

The off-angled light created several problems here ... The bill color needs to be toned down. Moving way left and using a borrowed long lens with a TC would have helped :)

with love, arite

[Paul Burdett]

Thanks John...I guess the rocks are not such a distraction for some.
Artie: No lens rental places here with the right lens. The D850+500PF is looking like a combo I may be serious about.

[Arthur Morris]

Understood Paul. I was mostly joshing :) The 500 PF with the TC-14E will get you to 700m with slow and sometimes balky AF. But super-sharp at 700mm, and at times, good for flight ... I love that combo and the image quality is fabulous. There is however, a new kid on the block: SONY. I mention it briefly and it will be the subject of many blog posts in the next week or two.

with love, artie

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Artie...I figured you were joshing :)...but I am well aware of the limitations of my gear...the 7Dii+100-400 meets my needs for perched birds, but bif is another issue. I don't really want to get rid of my Canon gear (7Dii, 6D, 100-400, 70-200f4, 24-70f4, 16-35f4, 50mmSTM, 100mm macro, MPE macro, MT24EX twin light, 580EX flash) and trade/sell to get the D850+500mm. I think just getting the D850+500mm PF would be a better deal and keep my Canon gear. I also do landscape and am happy with the 6D here...although the D850 would perhaps be better than the 6D...but then I'd need Nikon lenses. Now you say that the 500PF+TC has AF limitations (not with the combo minus TC I assume) and Sony is to be considered...my brain is going to explode...lol I'll follow the blog posts. Cheers.

[Arthur Morris]

Got it Paul/ Over the years I have seen some really good flight shots with the 7D II ...

with love, artie

[Paul Burdett]

Artie: lol. I think the D850+500mmPF would be a good investment for perched and particularly BIF as an upgrade from the 7Dii and 100-400, but will follow your blog on Sony gear. Thanks for the info.