Theme Tricolored Heron

[Dave Harwood]

A year ago, under a gentle rain inside Sanibel's Ding Darling Preserve fished this solitary heron in a roadside waterway that if you drive-by too fast, you'll miss. Raindrops kept falling on his head and mine, but that's where I wanted to be, loving every minute. Basic editing with LR, PS, and Nik software. Thank you for taking a look.
time of day,


Canon EOS 1D Mk II
f/5.6 1/200 ISO 200
EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x
Focal Length 533 mm
Flash Type Did not fire
Tripod Used
75% of Original










Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp with a good EXP and basic image design. Love the look at the feet. From the car? I love the look and the mood but the head turned so far away from the body-line leaves a lot to be desired. To increase the drama in images like this, consider cleaning up the light stuff in the water.

with love, artie

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

Lighting and exposure very nice. You did well at this shutter speed, but the slightest movement would have caused blur, so might consider pushing up the ISO a bit to allow a higher shutter speed. Those darn birds have a tendency to move quickly at times!

Agree with Artie re: head angle. Generally the image is more engaging if the head is turned a bit towards the camera.

Randy

[Jonathan Ashton]

A very striking image, love the colours, the head position may not be ideal but I wish I had a shot like this one!

[Colin Driscoll]

A really pleasing shot. The missed head angle is offset by great DOF, lighting and colors.

[gail bisson]

I really like the mood here.
Very dark, tranquil and funnily enough, I am OK with the head angle. Bird looks pensive to me and just doing its own thing!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the dark BG, sharpness, DOF and HA is not ideal but I don't mind it. Nice image Dave.

[John Mack]

Works very well with that dark water. Neat how you can see the feet in the water.

[Dave Harwood]

Thank you, good people, for such thoughtful responses. If you stare into the bird, his head position adds a pensive, staring off into the unknown appearance, almost like daydreaming. I'm a dreamer, too! Tried all different exposures. He was so still—lost in thought—using a tripod I could get away with that slow shutter, which I believe improved tonality? Thank you, again! Dave Harwood

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful bird with excellent feather layers. Great colours, sharp details. I love the dark background. I agree with Artie about the white stuff in the water, particularly around the legs and the faint one at the tip of the bill. I that head angle I do wish it had swung over its backside more towards us. I a higher ISO would not have given you lesser tonality, but would have given you a higher shutter speed in case of sudden action.