Great Egret

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L
1/2500 sec f/6.3 ISO 400 HH

Levels and sharpening in CS5. Full frame.

From this morning on my way to work.

107758

[nancy hazen]

Great capture Ian. I love seeing these great bird perched on high trees. Very nice!

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Ian, what a nice scene to find on your way to work! All I see is other cars on the LA freeways. :c3: Nice soft light and your exposure is good. I think you could actually push the whites a bit in this one, and I would be tempted to cool down the color temperature just a tad. I don't think the part of the pine tree (and how cool to see this bird in a pine tree!) in the bottom part of the frame is adding anything and I would crop a bit from the bottom. This does make for a squarish crop, but I think it would help to keep the eye on the bird. Good catch!

[Don Davis]

Beautiful bird to capture Ian i was lucky enough to photo one of these birds about 3yrs ago in uk,ive just found out there is one around my aera at the moment hope to get another sighting soon,well taken and posted thank you.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, folks. Kerry, I originally cropped it near square but figured I'd get negative comments from the square-crop detractors. I'm going to go back when I have time and trim the base. As for the color temperature, I'm not sure. The reality at the time was a nice golden sunrise. I'll try cooling it down and look at it, but I go out at that hour with the intent of getting pretty light. Do you really think it's too much?

There is a golf course less than a mile from an office where I work occasionally. There is a pond at the edge of the course which is frequently inhabited by ducks, coots, grebes, egrets, killdeer, herons, and the like. I saw an osprey there yesterday (although my images aren't worth posting) and I've seen kestrels, red-tails, and Harris' hawks there as well. If I know that I'm going to be working at that office, I usually go in early so I can check out the pond. I discovered the place accidentally a couple of years ago when I saw a GBH fly over as I was driving by and I've NEVER seen another photographer or birder there. There was a whole flock of American Widgeon there when I drove by yesterday on my way home (I'll get around to processing those images some time soon).

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ian,

Nice capture the steep angle is alight but on the edge IMO. I like the crop given your position on the ground. Regarding the color, how does the histogram look do you have data in the first two stops - what was the white balance setting as well. It looks alright to me, just curious since you and Kerry were kicking that topic around.

Be careful on the course, golfers are crazy. It does sound like a nice find I live on a course and ducks are always landing in the many lakes. Thanks for posting and show us some more please.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Ian, no I don't thing the color temp is too warm, but was just curious to see what it might look like a bit cooler. This would emphasize the whiteness of the plumage and could be adjusted slightly without losing the warm tone. It's just a matter of taste and yours is just as valid as anyone else's. :c3:

[pat lillich]

beautiful creamy colored bird - gorgeous light --- did you go back and try the crop taking off just the bottom part of the branch that caught the light? The bird looks like it is watching out to sea.....