White Morph Reddish Egret #2

This is 2 frames after the last image I posted.
Canon 1 DX
600 mm
ISO 500 SS 1/2500 F7.1
I dodged the blackish area in the BG and added 2% more canvas on the RHS.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

wonderful action and wing position, great lighting. i have seen one of these, but it has avoided my lens lol. wow, that bill with the contrasting colors, amazing

Great pose. I think I like this better than #1. Nice layered background. No nits from me, although I might be tempted to sharpen the water drops to make them pop a bit.

I had 2 similar frames from Desoto this year, one of a 'regular' Reddish Egret and one of a Heron, both of which I really liked, so its great to see another version, and this one stands out really well because of the colouring and the head angle. Great light.

Nice work again Gail

Mike

Beautiful bird, nicely shown. Love the wing and leg position. Techs spot on as always. Makes me want to drive the gauntlet to Ft. De Soto. Thank you for sharing, Gail.

Lovely frame, Gail. Same comments apply as per previous post with excellent separation from background, extremely well handled tones on the white bird and excellent detail. I like the partly extended alulae. I think the bit extra on the right helps the composition. Thanks for sharing.

I agree with Bill that I like this one more than the previous, although that one was stellar as well. This has to me a nicer HA while still retaining all the great aspects (BG, water drops, wing pose). Making the water drops pop more could help. TFS

Pretty pose and bird. Details look nice. I agree that sharpening the water drops would help make them stand out. I don't know this bird well enough but the whites do not look white to me. They seem to have a brown tone to them. Not sure if that is the birds actual color or from the warm sun.

Hi Isaac,
I returned to my RAW after your comments about the whites and I think you are correct re: the whites. There is a yellow to the whites as this was taken about 30 minutes before sunset but there should not be a brown color. I went back to the raw and increased the exposure by 1/3 and then in selective color I reduced the yellow and black by -10 each in the whites only.
I also increased the brightness of the water drops. (Thanks to all who suggested this).
I think my repost is better.

Looks much better Gail. I couldn't decide if it was yellow or brown so I went with brown but what you did made all the difference. Minor change has a big impact.

Beautiful incoming pose and I like the details in the feathers and the nice colors throughout the scene.
A very slight improvement but I do like the repost. Nice shot Gail see you soon.