Theme: Courting Pair

[Roman Kurywczak]

Near Tampa Florida this past March. He was bringing her sticks for the nest and came out of a dark area under the nest and this was her greeting. Hoped they would mate but they did not.
Canon 1D Mark ll with the Sigma 300-800 @ 610mm at ISO 1600 at f5.6 and 1/800 sec. Slight crop and NR run on BG.
Saved at 61 Quality to fit.

[gail bisson]

Roman,
This is lovely. I love the dark BG and the contrasting whites. I like the trailing feathers and the whites look great. The light is "to die for".
TFS
Gail

[Norm Dulak]

Hi Roman.

While your birds are terrific, the bkg is a little too dark for my taste. I would try to brighten it a bit, to bring the image into better balance. But it is sharp, well composed and very interesting. :S3:

What I did here is to select the birds in CS5 based on color range, select the inverse to work the bkg, and then move the middle slider on a levels adjustment layer a bit to the left.

No claim here that my repost is especially good, but a belief that it may show the possibilities of some brightening of the bkg.

[Charles Glatzer]

Roman,

This is sharp, full of detail, and wonderfully exposed. I am sure you will get conflicting viewpoints on this one. For me... I would prefer a bit more room around the subjects and the background a bit lighter as posted.

Best,

Chas

[arash_hazeghi]

great interaction Roman, love the light and the dark BG. I like the original.

[christopher galeski]

Beautiful shot Roman,the lighting,the birds,I too like the original.thanks.

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Roman, sweet, sweet light, and well timed to capture the interaction. The egrets really stand out well against the darker BG. Your central placement works well. :w3

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Roman, fantastic interaction and love the dark BG as posted in the original. Lovely detail in the whites and also like the open beaks.

[Nico Steenberg]

Great inter cation and exposure captured. Like the light :S3: