Green Backed Heron

[Ken Watkins]

Seen here stalking along the edge of Lake Kariba, taken on Rhino Island, Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe, 18th September 2011

EOS 1D MkIV

500mm F4 IS hand-held

F7.1, ISO 400, 1/1250

[Randy Stout]

Ken:

Good wading pose with foot up, nice angle in frame, sharp and well exposed.

Because of the cluttered BG, would have been tempted to use a smaller f/stop for less DOF. A lower shooting angle would have also helped throw the BG out of focus, but I know that is often not possible where you shoot.

If I have a very busy background, I tend to crop a little tighter if it works for the rest of the image, to eliminate as much of the clutter as possible.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the pose too, and the details / techs look good. I would crop some off the top. The biggest issue is indeed the cluttered background (I do like the vegetation in front of the heron)...I know its not always possible but a lower angle is often very effective in minimizing this.

[Ken Watkins]

I am afraid that the BG is all too typical of the shoreline of Kariba, as a result of the rise and fall in the lakes levels during the year, the water is rarely clear of vegetation.