Egret Fishing

[Stu Bowie]

This was taken in large lagoon in one of the suburbs of Cape Town ( Milnerton ) - a haven for bird life. When the tide is low, the birds with the longer legs can walk around and fish for their food.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/8000
F/5.6
ISO 400

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand Held

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

Excellent wing position with sense of action.
I suspect there are only a few hot pixels in the whites here, but I might use the recovery slider to tease out a bit more visible detail.

You need more room to the left, IMO. Because the water is rough, the reflection is distorted enough that it doesn't add a lot to the image, and I would crop to suit the action and overall composition.

The eye looks a bit unusual to me, did you need to do some work on it?

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks Randy. My choice of comp was to suit the extended wings. With regards to the eye, I really didnt touch it at all. I could be from the sharpening - maybe softening it a tad may work.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Sharpness and pose look good, the whites could go a bit darker but are not overexposed. I could also see this as a horizontal crop.

[Don Lacy]

Nice action and pose, I think this would work better as a horizontal as is the Heron feels a cramped in the frame.

[Gary Jones]

Hi Stu. Great wing position and good feather detail. I know crop is personal, but I also see this as a landscape crop. Take off the bottom as the reflection doesn't add, then ahve more on the left. It would add to the feeling of the bird about to take off.

[Morkel Erasmus]

agree on the eye but good exposure mate. I don't mind the comp as posted.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a lot guys.