Cattle Egret portrait

[allanrube]

I shot this earlier this month at the St Augustine Alligator Farm. I had the D3X with the 600 VR lens and I did not like what I was seeing. It was too close for a full body shot so I tried the tc20 III - I think in this bright light it came out quite well. As long as I have plenty of light and the subject is not moving the tc20 III works well with an f/4 lens.

1/1250 f/9 - iso 320 - ec+3

93545

[Troy Lim]

Allan, love the portrait.
When were you there?

[Doug Brown]

Love the color and sharpness. The light looks really nice. Too bad about the nicitating membrane. And I wish the BG was all blue (not crazy about the OOF vegetation at the bottom). Don't forget that you can post at 1024 pixels wide and 800 high.

[John Guastella]

Love everything about this shot, especially the NM being half-engaged (no accounting for taste, I guess!). The bird's colors against the blue BG -- just awesome. I do agree with Doug about the OOF veg at the bottom. Easy to remove if you so choose. Great image!

John

[allanrube]

Allan, love the portrait.
When were you there?

I was there a little after you - May 3 -5.

[allanrube]

Love everything about this shot, especially the NM being half-engaged (no accounting for taste, I guess!). The bird's colors against the blue BG -- just awesome. I do agree with Doug about the OOF veg at the bottom. Easy to remove if you so choose. Great image!

John

I will make a change on the sky - thanks John and Doug.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Allen. I would agree about the color, sharpness, and altering the sky. As a portrait of a cattle egret, the visible nictitating membrane is not working for me. On the other hand, this would be an excellent image if you wanted to specifically illustrate how the nictitating membrane works. :S3:

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Allan, excellent IQ and colors. Very nice exposure and details. liked the BG as well.

Too bad about the NM. This is the reason I think it is advisable to be in high fps mode even for non-action shots.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wonderful colours, light, exposure. With the eye being at peak colours (awesome red/yellow combo) I too would have preferred the NM not be visible. I also find the comp a tad tight. Still, a great view of the breeding colours:S3:

[Stu Bowie]

Excellent breeding colours captured Allan, and I like the overall exposure. Although the NM spoils the eye a touch, it does however give us a great close up of it.

[allanrube]

worked on sky and replaced eye from another shot.

93603

[Steve Maxson]

The repost is a big improvement IMO. :S3:

[Hendri Venter]

As can be seen from the quality that D3x rocks. Fantastic portrait.