Green Heron

[Daniel Loomis]

40D
700mm (EF 500mm + 1.4tc)
f/5.6
1/200s
ISO 800
uncropped
NR by Topaz

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/3670334622_bc1df0443c_o.jpg

[Dave Phillips]

welcome Daniel.
A beautiful pose and exposure on the GH.
Noise reduction may be a bit much on the bird itself.....maybe not, it is just a tad soft in some areas,
especially for a full frame image

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Nice picture, BG compliments subject. I would crop thin layers off both top and bottom. Eliminate negative space that distracts from your beautiful subject, well done.

Techs are interesting, must have been low light to have ISO @ 800 and a slow shutter @1/200. That's driving Dave's comments. Was flash an option, maybe TTL (-3). When shooting at 700MM with a 1/200 shutter you will often get soft results. With that setup try and stay >= 1/500 if possible.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Some good advice above. Besides the cropping, the biggest issue for me is separation of the bird from the background, both of which are dark. Just a touch of fill flash as Jeff mentioned would have helped with this separation.

A big welcome to BPN.

Randy

[Daniel Loomis]

I was about to leave when the Heron flew up and landed on the fence. I had already put away my flash gear and a storm was blowing in. Had to snap a few quick pics with the equipment I had in hand. Ordinarily I would use fill-flash with a Wimberley flash attachment. Sadly, the birds are not always considerate of our needs!

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Daniel,

I know what you mean, this has happened to us all. Overall nice subject and a nice capture, thanks for sharing.