Snowy Egret Defending His Territory

[Gayle Clement]

As the birds returned to roost on a small rookery there was much jockeying for space. A little blue heron landed directly below the snowy, causing this reaction.

Comments and critiques welcome and greatly appreciated.



Nikon D2Xs
Nikkor 500mm f/4
Nikkor TC-EII 1.4 Teleconverter
160/s at f/5.6
ISO 200

[chad anderson]

this is really beautiful, it really shows of that spectacular plumage---and all the techs are great too.

[Andrew George]

Nice soft light and pose. It looks like the photo has a small green colorcast?

[Blake Shadle]

Very nice work, Gayle. I might try to tone down the feathers on his back. The area of the stick in shadow tends to pull my eye away from your subject, so I might crop from the bottom right above that. I really the pose and the intense stare.

[Gary Dumer]

Stunning Image, This is Art not just a picture of a bird!!!

Very Well Done from Here!!!

[Alexander Koenders]

I dreampicture wich i really love

[susanschermer]

I love your image, but I thought it could use a little more crop. Took the liberty. Do you like it better?

[Blake Shadle]

I love your image, but I thought it could use a little more crop. Took the liberty. Do you like it better?

Very nice work, Susan. I like the space in the original horizontal, but this is a very exciting composition. All attention is drawn to the subject and the incredible pose.

EDIT: on second thought, I really like the repost.

[susanschermer]

This is not my image, Blake; wish it was. I merely cropped it. It is Gayle Clements'.

[Blake Shadle]

This is not my image, Blake; wish it was. I merely cropped it. It is Gayle Clements'.

I know ;) You did a fine job coming up with a very please composition...

[Paul Pagano]

I like the original and the repost too....I'd be ecstatic if I'd have shot this one...beautiful subdued light and a really nice pose! I think yes just a bit of a tone down on some of the whites on the back..

[DanWalters]

Nice shot. Great light and behaviour. I actually like the first one.

[Raul Quinones]

Awesome picture, like both, but I prefer the first one.

[Gayle Clement]

Thanks for all of the comments everyone. I was really pleased with this one and left it totally uncropped so that I could get feedback on the crop. My favorite so far is to crop is as a horizontal, cutting out only the shadowed branches, Blake's original suggestion. I like Susan's crop but fear it's a little too tight in front of the bird. Now I have to figure out how to tone down the bright spots!

I also agree with Andrew about the slight green cast. Originally it was quite green. The late light on the budding Louisiana cypresses cast a really green light. I use Robert O'Toole's Blur/Average technique to take out some of the green cast, backing it down halfway so I wouldn't lose the soft light and have a bright white bird. I will try a print and maybe back off on the colorcast a bit more.

Thanks again for all of the help and advice!

[Daniel Cadieux]

All points already mentioned and dealt with. Just want to mention that this is an extraordinary show of feathers and breeding plumage. Could not have asked for a better pose.

[Maxis Gamez]

The repost works best. There is a strong green cast.

[Dave Phillips]

beautiful Gayle, and the recrop is quite nice...fellow Louisianian had to play too.
White balance a bit and killed hot spot and brightened rest of egret a wee bit

[Gayle Clement]

Again, thanks for the comments and assistance. Daniel, I watched this snowy and took many photos of different poses because he was the only one on a branch with a clean background. I actually have even better display but have a few sticks and shadows on those.

I tried the crop, multiplying the very bright areas of the back, and removing the green. The biggest difference between mine and fellow Louisisian Dave is that I left a little of the warm late afternoon light on the bird.

[James Salywoda]

Superb Image Gayle !!!!!

[Kirk Benson]

It's already been mentioned many times but I must chime in, absolutely beautiful image no matter how you decide to crop it. Thanks for sharing Gayle.