Peek-A-Boo Birdie: Tricolor Close-up

[Bob Decker]

Been a while since I stopped in. Busy with life and such. Hate it when that happens.

This is not a usual situation I find myself in, this tri-color Heron was too close at times for a shot of the entire bird and was largely obscured by marsh grass. I'm curious if y'all think this works. Canon 40D, Bigma @ 500mm, iso 800, f/8.0, 1/1250. Handheld from a lightly grounded kayak at Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve near Beuafort, NC.

[Julie Kenward]

Bob, nice to see you back! Lance Peters calls these kind of images "color washes" and I think this is a great one! You've got an incredible BG and FG and the bird really draws your attention to it with that yellow eye and that long beak. I might consider toning out some of the green directly over the neck so it looks more uniform from top to bottom and might take a bit off the top so the bird's head sits closer to the ROT's position- he looks just a bit shy of it here. You might also try to lighten that beak a tiny bit and see if there's any hidden detail in that far end area.

Lovely image overall - what a fun portrait of one of our favorite birds!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Bob - I am a big fan of this style - Doesnt always work but when it does..... I love it.

Jules has covered my main thoughts - little off the top - just a little patch work on the neck. Has a very painterly quality to it - I like the oof foreground greens.
Lovely feel.
Nice one!!

[John Chardine]

Like this technique too Bob. Haven't done much of it though. Lovely composition and BG. I think the subject's head could use some more sharpening.