Grey heron

[Jeroen Wijnands]

In a meadow on the edge of a wooded area. I know this bird, unlike many of his species this one is rather shy so when I noticed him posing I parked my car and shot this from the window.

I left the fence in the distance for some context but am a bit unsure about it.

Exif:
Camera: Nikon D300
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 300 mm
Focal Length: 302.0 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Lens: 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR
Focus Distance: 21.13 m


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2709/4486714470_0542be03fa_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_wijnands/4486714470/sizes/l/)

[Keith Carver]

This is similar to the Great Blue Heron in North America and they can be shy. Suggest that you crop this below the horizontal line that runs just above the other distant bird, and also crop from the right just to left of the other bird. Also, shooting from a lower angle would greatly help this image - maybe getting out of the car would have spooked it, but that's the bird photographer's challenge. The bird itself seems to be slightly OOF - maybe some sharpening would help. TFS.

[Jeroen Wijnands]

Keith, do you mean getting rid of that grazing duck in the back?

[Keith Carver]

Keith, do you mean getting rid of that grazing duck in the back?

Yes, I think the duck should go... :)

[Jeroen Wijnands]

I'm starting to agree on the fence but I'm not too sure about the duck yet. I got half a dozen almost identical in this pose, see which one makes a better crop.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the resting pose and head angle. Another vote for a tighter crop, the OOF duck does not add to the image IMHO. I would tone down the whites and try to get more details in the blacks.