Cattle Egret in the rain

[Graeme Sheppard]

http://gjsheppard.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/2009-10-27-egret.jpg
Driving around Puttamontorn park SW of Bangkok, the skies opened up and torrential rain started coming down. The large birds could be found in partial shelter under large trees. This one had just shaken itself out a bit (I may post a photo another time) and was now huddling up looking a bit sorry for itself. I took the photo from the car, using continuous shooting to get a sharp image.

450D + Canon 400mm fixed, f4
Minor crop for balance
Exposure set in LR

Any thoughts are welcome.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

This bird really does look a bit unhappy. :) I would put the bird a bit higher in the frame, sharpen it more and wish the head were parallel to the sensor. You could also tone down the whites a bit.

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Graeme: Axel's comments should help you to make this photo more striking. I think sharpening will be the first priority. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing it again.

[Graeme Sheppard]

Thanks both of you. I agree that Axel's comments seem spot on. I'll have another look at the picture on Sunday and see what I can fix.

[Graeme Sheppard]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gjsheppard/4082362025/http://gjsheppard.wordpress.com/files/2009/11/cattle-egret-2.jpg
Here's a new version, moved slightly, sharpened and toned down.
I just noticed that when I printed these to file in LR, I hadn't applied any sharpening at all.