Great Blue Heron fly-by.

[Daniel Cadieux]

From Alafia banks (Tampa Bay) with captain Shadle, Roman, and Randy.

A bit of a grab shot as I was concentrating on Spoonbills and saw this guy coming from the corner of my eye. He flew right in front of me - and along perfect light. The late evening sky had a nice (but faint) gradient to it too, just as an added bonus. I did enhance the gradient via sponge tool saturation at 8% flow.

Canon 30D + 100-400L @310mm, manual exposure (settings histogram checked), evaluative metering, 1/1250s., f/6.3, ISO 400, handheld, added canvas left and top (zoom wider!) and lightened the shadow at the base of the far wing.

[Katie Rupp]

Very nice grab shot, Daniel! He looks like he is on a mission and the gradient really makes this special.

[Peter Farrell]

Gorgeous lighta nd fantastic BG. Very nice detail throughout.
Peter

[stuart wanuck]

nice image quite serious about his mission

[Arthur Morris]

Very sweet indeed. The only thing that bugs me, and not much at that, is the shadow that falls on the base of the far wing. SH and EXP perfect.

Here is a challenge for you: write a tutorial on using gradients that I can understand. I have read various tutorials and sections in books and have always gotten lost on the subject....

[Ofer Levy]

Lovely shot! The shadow on the wing doesn't bother me at all. If anything would move the bird higher in the frame.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the sharpness, lighting and BG. Well done Daniel!

[Tom Redd]

Beautiful shot, I like the gradient. Nice and sharp, good lighting.

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Dan, this guy is very similar to our grey heron. Good flying posture, sharp, and the warm colours of the evening sky adds a lot.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Good reactions. I missed this one completely.

Excellent pose, lighting and background.

I look forward to your gradient tutorial:t3

Cheers

Randy

[Grace Scalzo]

As noted, perfect gradient and I really like the plume streaming from the back of his head. Gives motion and speed to the image.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very sweet indeed. The only thing that bugs me, and not much at that, is the shadow that falls on the base of the far wing. SH and EXP perfect.

Here is a challenge for you: write a tutorial on using gradients that I can understand. I have read various tutorials and sections in books and have always gotten lost on the subject....

Thanks Artie!

I don't add gradients that are not there, but simply "enhance" ones that are. I love the results the Sponge Tool gives for selective saturation. The gradient on this image was very very faint so I just painted over the top third and lower thirds of the image to enhance the saturation on those areas, using a large soft brush (0% hardness for a seamless result) at 8% flow - repeat if needed, I did so here. I prefer repeating than using a larger % flow. I also sometimes then reduce the size of the brush by at least half or more, and repaint over the areas touching both the top and lower edges of the frame for added effect. The Sponge Tool is located along with the Dodge and Burn tools and basically used the same way. Needless to say you may want to do this on a separate layer...

P.S. The sponge tool is great when used on the eye (iris) after having lightened it to give it back some lost colour, and I also use it to desaturate small areas that may show signs of clipping (e.g. yellows or reds).

Not easy trying to make it sound easy!!

P.S. I used the sponge tool on these BGs too:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/74398-Incoming-Snow-Goose!!

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/73155-Horned-Lark.

[Pieter de Waal]

Nice fly past Daniel, and I like the very interesting BIF pose with the outstretched neck. TFS the tutorial.

[Todd Frost]

Nice flight image Daniel. Nice exposure, color and sharpness. Well done.
TFS
Todd

[Art Kornienko]

Nice Grab Daniel, the shadow on far wing is OK with me, but I agree with Ofer, I would have place the bird higher, but love the shot, super lighting and great bg.

[Nico Steenberg]

Great in flight shot with good sharp detail and exposure. Like the comp. Super shot !