TriColored Heron

[Daniel Belasco]

Another one of my TriColored shots in the kind of light I like.
Not sure about what needs to be done to this image--seems I'm the only one that seems to like it.
ps No room on the right as I was tight on the bird to get as much in the frame as possible--for the detail.

canon 20d 500mm f4+1.4@ f5.6 1/2000 sec iso 800


http://newimages.fotopic.net/?iid=yzusql&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1

[Art Peslak]

Nice exposure, sharpness and details. I like the background colors.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Daniel, good exposure on the darker plumage, and overall nice and sharp. Where this image lets you down is the HA, and the tightness of the comp. Sometimes its best to wait for the magic moment for him to turn towards you, capture the catchlight, and its in the bag. I would also crop off the bottom to remove at least the body of the reflection.

[Peter Wallack]

Wonderful Impressionist colors. I would crop the bottom where the body reflection starts as a matter of personal taste. The bird's eye is a bit dark and the white chest a bit light. I would use the Image menu go to Adjust and down to Highlights/Shadows on my Photoshop; you would need the CS2 version or higher.

[Daniel Cadieux]

ps No room on the right as I was tight on the bird to get as much in the frame as possible--for the detail.

canon 20d 500mm f4+1.4@ f5.6 1/2000 sec iso 800


Daniel, the bird looks quite relaxed with your presence...would you have had the time to discretly remove the 1.4 TC? That would have made a huge difference on the comp. HA mentioned too, and I see some cloning evidence in URC. Good colours on your BG.

[Daniel Belasco]

Thanks everyone.
Daniel--I went back to my orginals. The heron was there for 23 seconds and flew off. I shot 13 shots, mainly trying to fit the heron in the frame, so unfortuntately no time to take off the 1.4 I've attached the orginal shot with no processing, no contrast, sharpening etc. I shoot with everything at 0 and add to my liking.
I've attached what I believe was the orginal, it's hard to tell as I don't have the orginal frame number of the one I posted, but this looks like it and has the whole beak and tail--many were cut off. This was also my last frame before the bird left.


http://newimages.fotopic.net/?iid=1yseci&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1

[Daniel Belasco]

I hope someone can give me some help from the above orginal jpeg as it came out of the camera.
Thanks
Daniel

[WIlliam Maroldo]

I like the colors and the composition. I believe you are at a considerable disadvantage by shooting JPEGs, and the compression in itself discards information that would prove quite useful if saved as RAW, especially in your JPEG sample. I realize that your birding season should be coming up soon? and I would seriously recommend shooting RAW, or at a minimum RAW and JPEG. regards~Bill

[Aidan Briggs]

Hey Daniel, the original above is underexposed. Next time I would add light to the exposure, to get the proper exposure for the bird, and worry about the whites later. It is better for image quality to tone down the whites, rather than lighten up the whole image, as lightening it introduces noise, and generally reduces the IQ. If you switch to RAW taking care of the whites would be easier than ever.