Out of the Shadows, Frame #12

Following up on my previous post, this is the twelfth frame of the flight sequence as the Great Blue Heron emerged from the shadows early one morning at Venice Rookery. This was 1.4 seconds after the first frame of the sequence and 0.8 after my previous post (frame #6). I toned down a few bright areas in the BG, ran some NR on the BG and Levels on the bird. This is full-frame. I actually prefer the earlier post because of its dramatic lighting, but I like the water here, and was pleased to track the bird without clipping his wings. Admittedly somewhat tight in the frame.

D500, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 800, 1/2500s @ f/8 manual.

This is a gem, Bill even if he is tight in the frame. Looks like the kind of BG that would take some additional room on top and sides if you so chose. Love the nesting material.

Geoffrey




https://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

Great job on staying with this guy and keeping those wing tips in Bill--and also in getting almost all the bird in focus. The whole configuration of the various gangly parts of this fellow and the perfect head angle is very pleasing in this image, with the colours powerfully portrayed.

Hi Bill, lovely flight pose, and I like the show of the near wing. Good to see the trailing legs as the Heron takes flight, together with the nesting material or 'gift'. As you have a uniform upper BG, I would add canvas to the top, and take a bit off the bottom.

Thanks Geoffrey, Bob and Stu. I've added just a sliver of space at top and right, and cropped an equally small sliver from the bottom. Not much, but it does give him just a bit of breathing room. I was afraid to do more without it looking artificial, and I like the colors on the lower area.

The sharpness across the bird is what stands out for me here Bill. And the water is simply gorgeous too. As usual, you've rendered the tone and colour here extremely well. Your technique is excellent. I think your repost is better as I did feel this one was a bit tight overall but I'm still impressed you got the whole bird in on such a tight frame. I'd always have bits chopped off if I tried this!