Oysters & Snowy Egret

[Joel Arrington]

Canon 20D, Pattern metering, ISO 200, 1/2000 @ 5.6, 70-200 w/ 2x ext. @ 400 mm

Overcast day.

[Robert Amoruso]

You did good with the composition of the bird and oysters as they are not touching. You generally want to get the bird flying at you and have eye contact. It produces a more intimate look. This can be deviated from if the composition calls for it. Like a perched bird looking at something in the distance or at least appearing to look at something in the distance. Though some may disagree, I do like the downwards wing flap and at the angle of the bird in the image you get to see both wing detail. The overcast day helps in that you have no deep shadows.

The image's flatness due to the overcast can be corrected using a levels adjustment and expanding the tonal range and then a curves adjustment to add an "s" curve.

Thanks for posting.

[Judd Patterson]

Hey Joel! There are some very nice elements to this image like the mud flying off the golden feet (slippers) of this Snowy Egret and the well controlled exposure thanks to the soft light. Still, as Robert mentions, the angle of the head leaves me wishing for more...I'd love to see the rest the face to really connect with this image.