Black Crowned Night Heron

[Bob Decker]

This Black Crowned Night Heron exposed its self as I tried to manuever my kayak to put myself between the sun and a Belted Kingfisher. While the Kingfisher didn't cooperate and left the area, the Heron stayed put. From most angles the bird was hidden behind the brush but there was one opening in front of the bird providing an opportunity for a photograph. Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500 @ 500, iso 800, f/10, 1/800. Some sharpening in Photoshop + a curves adjustment to create a slight s-curve.

79375

[Julie Kenward]

Bob, I like this but think there is way too much OOF foliage around the bird. If the stuff on the right side were more in focus I'd say leave it in but with it all OOF, I'd go for a vertical crop and take most of it out, letting the bird have more room in the frame. There is a very OOF limb showing against his breast area - you might go in close and see if you can do a good job cloning that one out since it's more obvious.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Bob - might have been a candidate for the colour wash technique - Throw the foreground as OOF as possible and use the oof foreground elements to frame the bird. Doesn't always work but when it does!!!
As presented - I agree with Jules comments.
Keep em coming :)

[John Chardine]

Wow, we are having a real BCNH fest here at ETL!!

I like the idea here Bob with the subject peering over the brush. The bird is sharp and you have cropped to include the feet- all good! Too bad the light was not coming from the back left. Agree with my esteemed colleagues that there is too much brush. A different crop with some off the right could fix this.