Solitary Heron

[Norm Dulak]

Nikon D1
Nikkor 80-400 mm VR @ 400 mm, hand held
f/7.1, 1/2500 sec

I find this image, in which a great blue heron seems to be contemplating the coming day, refreshing. And this image was captured in 2001, when I first began to enjoy the fruits of retirement from a professional career.

I hope you will enjoy this image, and I welcome your comments.

Norm

[Terry Hann]

Hi Norm. Do you have the top of the tree in the original shot? If you do I would prefer to see it as it is so close to being there, but just not quite. Also I would remove the stump in the bottom RH corner as I think it is a bit distracting.
Great shot, it has that contemplating feel you talked about.
Terry

[Norm Dulak]

Terry:

I thought I got the top OK, but what you see here is all of what is available in the original at the top of the image.

Of course, I could easily add more canvass above since the sky is so uniform and could by cloning add a bit more tree, but I think I got all of the tree. And I'd be interested to know what others think about the stump on the right.

But thanks for looking and offering your thoughts.

Norm


Hi Norm. Do you have the top of the tree in the original shot? If you do I would prefer to see it as it is so close to being there, but just not quite. Also I would remove the stump in the bottom RH corner as I think it is a bit distracting.
Great shot, it has that contemplating feel you talked about.
Terry

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like your description of the image, it really does give that impression.

For the tall branch I agree with Terry. The end is too tight above. As you mention you can add some canvas rather easily - but alternatively you could also crop a bit from up there (as posted, about 1/2 inch off) to make it look like the branch extends way past the frame instead of just barely clipped. I also think the image may look interesting as a vertical pano, with a good crop at left - up to and including a bit into the perch end. Just a thought.

I personally like the stump at lower right and I would keep it there.

[Dan Busby]

Yes, nice description Norm. I am ok with the stump - it seems to add balance. But agree with the tree tip business - perhaps a slightly tighter crop would eliminate that issue with barely clipping the top.

[Norm Dulak]

Per your suggestions I've truncated the tip of the tree a bit in this re-post, leaving the viewer to imagine a sharp terminus somewhere in the clear blue sky.

I do like that better. Thanks for the suggestion!

Norm

[Fabs Forns]

Yes, Norm, I like the repost better. I'm also OK with the stump. Nice framing for the bird with the tree.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Interesting perch and good head angle. I think the stump looks good, if it were mine, I would probably add a bit canvas at the top.

[Terry Hann]

Hi Norm
Hope you don't mind the re-cropping of your shot. I added a bit more room to the top of the tree, did a pano crop as suggested by Daniel and took out the stump that bothered me.
See what you think.
Terry

[Norm Dulak]

Hi Norm
Hope you don't mind the re-cropping of your shot. I added a bit more room to the top of the tree, did a pano crop as suggested by Daniel and took out the stump that bothered me.
See what you think.
Terry

Terry:

That's an interesting interpretation. My inclination, however, is to retain the stump, which I think provides a balance to the tall structure.:)

But thanks for your effort in producing this interesting alternative!

Norm

[Hendri Venter]

Very interesting and different. I like the natural framing.