Great Egret: Mattamuskeet

[Bob Decker]

This egret decided to fish a few yards in front of my blind while at Lake Mattamuskeet. 40D, Bigma @500mm, f/9.0, 1/500, iso 640. I "cleaned" quite a bit of distracting floatsam from in front of the bird and in its reflection in post. Sharpening on the bird, along with a highlights tweak to improve detail a bit.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Bob

I like the bird and pose ... sure wish it was all smooth water like the foreground, makes for spectacular images.... as presented would take some form the top and remove the grass up front, would be a nice PS project !!! ... did real good with exposure, good white detail, remember to give the comp !!!

[David Thomasson]

Nice! The pose plus reflection create some interesting shapes. I was thinking the same as Alfred about the background, only I would just make it all
smooth rather than wish. :cool: I also added a light reflected gradient across the middle (behind the subject).

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2756/egret.jpg

(Edit) Look at that big old twig floating in the reflection. I didn't even notice it first time around! :eek:

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/2297/egret2.jpg

[Lance Peters]

Davids repost rocks!!! - Nice work David.
Exposure looks good - like the composition, reflection is strong enough to include, like the pattern formed by the neck/neck reflection.
Does it need a tad CCW rotation??

Good show :)

[Alfred Forns]

Gorgeous repost David :)

[Anita Rakestraw]

Nice image, Bob! The main thing that bothered me in the original post was the plant. But - David really transformed it by removing all the background details!

[Bob Decker]

For fun here's what the image looked like out of ACR before I did any clean-up... I left the plant thinking it might add a touch of balance to the composition and provide a bit of a frame. However, David's repost does rock. I'm not sure if I have the PS skills to replicate that or not... but I sure do like it!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Bob,
I like your capture, you have good details in the whites and the color rendition is good, I like David's repost, it puts it over the top...keep them coming Sir...:cool: