Open Wide

[Tom Walter]

I was fortunate to catch this shot with the Great Blue's beak open. I was just clicking away and this was one of the images. I like the pink color inside its mouth and the duckweed or green leaves on its legs and toes. This is the same heron that I posted yesterday. I thought this image was also a bit contrasty so I applies a reverse s curve to the selected bird. I'd appreciate your comments on improving this image.

Nikon D200
Nikon 70-300 4.5-5.6G VR at 98mm
Hand held
Natural light, no flash
1/2500 sec at f4.5
ISO 400<O:p</O:p

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Head angle, details and open bill look great. A lower angle would have helped here.

[Ed Cordes]

Nice open mouth. I agree about the lower angle.