Reddish Egret

[Joseph Przybyla]

This image was captured at a stop along Blackpoint Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Merritt Island, Florida. I was fortunate to find this gorgeous bird in full breeding plumage and colors perched on a small island not far from the road. Sitting on top of the banking at the edge of the road I captured images of this bird. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm F/5.6 VR AF-S ED PF, Handheld
1/1600 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +1 ISO 2000 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2021 and Topaz Denoise AI
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Daniel Cadieux]

A great look a the "mane". Even when not in full breeding colours these guys are stunning. I'm OJK with the square crop here.

[Brian Sump]

Hi Joe, species like this make me envious I'm not in the gulf/pacific region. How do you not love that bright pink/purple beak!?

Nice pose on this one. Quite a bit of detail available and 5.6 was just enough to get the beak tip too! Solid on the noise reduction but still seems to be pretty grainy on the gray back area.

Overall a nice crop. Like how you kept the left most chest feathers intact. Maybe could leave just a touch more left if you had it (shift subject right?). Also, pulling it into LR it appeared it could benefit from a few points warmth from my seat.

TFS Joe.

[Steve Kaluski]

Cool bird Joe, WB looks about bang on, but +5 on the Tint just lifts the green a bit more. Great detail, but add an RGB Curves channel adjustment and it just pops a bit more and you see more detail in the grey/blue plumage IMHO. Well done.

TFS
Steve

[Joseph Przybyla]

A great look a the "mane". Even when not in full breeding colours these guys are stunning. I'm OJK with the square crop here.

Thanks Dan, I appreciate and value your comments.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe, species like this make me envious I'm not in the gulf/pacific region. How do you not love that bright pink/purple beak!?

Nice pose on this one. Quite a bit of detail available and 5.6 was just enough to get the beak tip too! Solid on the noise reduction but still seems to be pretty grainy on the gray back area.

Overall a nice crop. Like how you kept the left most chest feathers intact. Maybe could leave just a touch more left if you had it (shift subject right?). Also, pulling it into LR it appeared it could benefit from a few points warmth from my seat.

TFS Joe.

Hi Brian, thank you for viewing and commenting. Just far enough for the bill to be in focus using F/5.6, I need to shoot open because of limited light, overcast sky. I probably can reduce the grain/noise in the grays and dark using the Adjustment Brush for a local adjustment with a luminosity mask to limit the adjustment to only the darks. Thanks again...

[Joseph Przybyla]

Cool bird Joe, WB looks about bang on, but +5 on the Tint just lifts the green a bit more. Great detail, but add an RGB Curves channel adjustment and it just pops a bit more and you see more detail in the grey/blue plumage IMHO. Well done.

TFS
Steve

Hi Steve, thank you for viewing and commenting. I will try raising the Tint +5 and a RBG curve channel adjustment. I appreciate your suggestions, always a good guide.

[Steve Kaluski]

Amounts & percentages are purely personal Joe, but… :S3:

[gail bisson]

I love the windblown mane!
Agree about the noise on the gray feathers.
Gail