White Ibis on Mangrove

[Bill Dix]

D90; 80-400 VR @ 360mm. ISO 1600, f/5.3 @ 1/640s. Matrix metering @ -1.3 EV. HH. About 40% crop.

Taken in the rain at Ding Darling, late in the afternoon the day before Thanksgiving. Dim light, thus the high ISO. Ran several NR passes on the background but still seems a bit noisy. Gotta like the bubblegum beak and legs. Looking at this as posted, it seems I might have brightened it a bit, but didn't want to wash out the whites. C&C appreciated.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the eye contact and setting and would give it a bit room. It could also a bit lighter for my taste.

[Aidan Briggs]

Ditto Axel. It does have a sort of rainy day feel to it. NIce HA and exposure.

[kenn threed]

A very nice capture Bill,

I like it as posted with the rainy day exposure, but I think it survives with just a little levels and contrast adjustment to make it pop brighter also:
http://kenn3d.smugmug.com/photos/749050261_9iAXj-X3.jpg
What do you think of this?

I don't see any objectionalble noise btw, ...good shot anyway I say,

Kenn

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Bill, colors are great and BG is nice too and the bird stands out well despite BG being busy. I don't see any noise in your original post, IMO you overdid the NR a bit as some feather detail is lost, I would just select the BG and run NR and leave the bird alone. Noise will not be visible in those white feather

Cheers.

[Bill Dix]

A very nice capture Bill,

I like it as posted with the rainy day exposure, but I think it survives with just a little levels and contrast adjustment to make it pop brighter also:

What do you think of this?

I don't see any objectionalble noise btw, ...good shot anyway I say,

Kenn

Thank you Kenn. That's definitely an improvement. I've recently been a bit timid about pushing the whites to the edge of the histogram, but this helps the image.

[Bill Dix]

Very nice Bill, colors are great and BG is nice too and the bird stands out well despite BG being busy. I don't see any noise in your original post, IMO you overdid the NR a bit as some feather detail is lost, I would just select the BG and run NR and leave the bird alone. Noise will not be visible in those white feather

Cheers.

Thanks Arash. I generally don't run NR on the subject if I can help it, and I don't remember doing so here. I did run several passes of Topaz Denoise on the BG, and a final pass of Topaz DeJpeg. My original master file, prior to any sharpening or NR, seemed lacking in feather detail as you noted. Maybe the dull light or my handholding technique or the high ISO?? Thank you for looking and commenting.