Cattle Egret... breeding colors and plumage

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at the rookery in the alligator breeding pond at Gatorland, Orlando, 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 350mm
1/2500 F/8 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 720 Auto 1 WB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2020 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

P.S. Learn more about the rookery at Gatorland in the BAA Middle Florida Photography Site Guide that Artie and I co-authored. It is available on the Birds As Art Online Store.

[Dorian Anderson]

Fantastic color and detail! I've always wanted a similarly striking shot of this species. The look at the eye is fabulous. I wish the bill tip was in equally good focus as the face, but you were at f/8 already
and the detail suggests you we already, especially since you didn't even max out your zoom! I'd love to see if you could world up a landscape crop that gives him a bit more room on the left. But a really beautiful look
at this bird however you cut it!

[Arthur Morris]

Yes, a stunner. Is there a bit of blue in some of the WHITEs?

with love, artie

[kevin Hice]

Yes the colors really pop on this.That green really offsets the bird . Great shot and TFS.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Yes, a stunner. Is there a bit of blue in some of the WHITEs?

with love, artie

Hi Artie, not sure if you are in Florida but if so welcome back. Here is a repost with the whites mostly neutral. Thank you for viewing and commenting.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Fantastic color and detail! I've always wanted a similarly striking shot of this species. The look at the eye is fabulous. I wish the bill tip was in equally good focus as the face, but you were at f/8 already
and the detail suggests you we already, especially since you didn't even max out your zoom! I'd love to see if you could world up a landscape crop that gives him a bit more room on the left. But a really beautiful look
at this bird however you cut it!

Hi Dorian, thank you for viewing and commenting. Easy to work up the landscape image, just go to the original framing. Yup, I know the tip of the bill is not as sharp as the eye, at F/8 and 350mm I was working with only 0.55 inches for the depth of field. I guess I would rather have this head angle and the bill tip slightly soft rather than perfectly parallel. Things are close and tight at the rookery in Gatorland, so restrictive on how one can move.

[dankearl]

If the top if bill was sharp this would be killer... as is, nice, and nice exposure of the whites.

[gail bisson]

Last repost is the best in terms of comp and the color of the whites.
Very nice portrait with a great color palette.

[Aditya Sridhar]

Love the last repost. Killer shot with tons of detail and excellent colors. I don't mind the OOF beak tip - my eyes go straight to the beautiful pink-red lores and that gorgeous eye!

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful Colors and good use of Depth of Field. Love the eye.

TFS

[John Mack]

Yes a killer portrait. Really digging that hair do.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, much appreciated.