Green Heron in low light

[Raymond Barlow]

D300 / 200-400 VR + 1.7 tc
1/200s f/7.1 at 650.0mm iso320 -2/3 ev
tripod, natural light, slight crop

The exposure was pretty close and I was happy with the detail considering
the poor tripod head I use, and the 1.7 not having the best reputation with this lens.
I moved the tint to the right +17 in ACR, to compensate for the green cast.
Also a little fill light to lighten up the bg.

I am 50/50 ont the plant in front of the bird, I did get some cleaner images
later in the shoot, so I left this one as is.

Also, special thanks to Fabs and Juan for recent articles in NIOM., link below.
New contributors welcome.. ray@raymondbarlow.com

[Brian Barcelos]

Raymond, very nice environmental image. You get a real idea of these guys stomping grounds. All your techs look good also. I like the plant in front of him, it's almost as if he thinks you can't see him. I might sharpen a little less as his beak looks a little jagged. All in all a pleasing image.

Brian

[Stu Bowie]

Great enviromental image Raymond, and a good low angle. I like the pose from the heron, and perfect placement of the head against a darker area in the BG. I would maybe tone down the highlights on the leaves on the water.

[Desmond Chan]

I think this is a technically well-executed photograph. I wish the plant in front did not have that many leaves on it. Understood that this is an environmental image, still the background I find it too busy. I wish it were a much simpler background.

[Hugh J McLaughlin]

The technicals are perfect, Raymond. The busy BG is a little distracting, however.

[Charlie VanTassel]

Nice one, Ray. I'm not a fan of the plant, but I could learn to live with it. I like the surroundings. The scene really shows the bird off well. That one stalk coming up from the center of the bird bugs me a little bit too. Still, I like the image.

[Ramon M. Casares]

As an image with enviroment it works because the head of the bird looks great and doesn't get lost in the bussy BG, pose, light, crop and comp are nice as well as detail and colors. I do wish you had a better BG though.
Congratulations.

[Daniel Belasco]

I like Green Herons. They're one of my favorite birds. We have a lot around here and I see them everyday.
I like environmental shots and this is a nice one. I find the green leaves in front of the bird and all the greenery on the right a bit too much.
I like verticals and I'd crop vertically. Not much you can do about the twig in from so just go for it. The brightness and oof plants on the right also lead me to think about a vertical.