Reddish Egret Fishing...

These birds are fun, they run all around flapping the wings and chasing fish. In this image if you follow the bubbles from the left to right you can see the abrupt turn the bird made chasing a fish. Image captured at Ft. Desoto in Pinellas County, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm F/5.6 VR AF-S ED PF, image captured handheld bracing the camera on top of a low post
1/4000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 640 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2021 and Topaz Denoise AI
Cropped for composition and presentation

Love the action and movement in this image Joe! The raised foot really adds to the action. This is why I also like to photograph Snowies for the same reason. I wish I can see and shoot these guys some day. Nice work!

I can feel the motion here Joe....Exposure looks good, as does the pose.

Will

Joe, you know at first glance I felt like the bubbles at left were a little distracting but I'm glad you included the narrative because it kinda makes the frame with the story. I would not have noticed the trail.

I like the colors and tones on the subject. Interesting how sharpening caused jagged edges in the whites in the head plumage going down the neck. Minor nit, but do you know why?

Overall, it would have been great if you were lower. Was this from a dock? I'd love a little more above, maybe less below.

TFS.

Nicely framed/cropped and I love the wake/trail. The only thing that bugs me is the shadow on the undersides of the near-wing.

with love, artie

Love it! One of your best in my opinion, it is an entertaining and high IQ image. The eye really gets my attention to.
I note Artie's reservation over the shadow...... but I don't actually see what is wrong with it, perfectly natural to me. Shadows happen that's the way I see it.
Equally the right wing tip isn't sharp but for me it is partly DOF coupled with a little movement blur, no bad thing in my book.

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Originally Posted by Brian Sump

Joe, you know at first glance I felt like the bubbles at left were a little distracting but I'm glad you included the narrative because it kinda makes the frame with the story. I would not have noticed the trail.

I like the colors and tones on the subject. Interesting how sharpening caused jagged edges in the whites in the head plumage going down the neck. Minor nit, but do you know why?

Overall, it would have been great if you were lower. Was this from a dock? I'd love a little more above, maybe less below.

TFS.

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Hi Brian, thank you for viewing and commenting. Not sure where you are seeing jagged line in the white going down the neck but I have recently been using deconvolution sharpening in Lightroom. I find it easier and it helps the fine details. As for getting lower, not possible at this location. The bird was in pond/lagoon in a roped off area. I got as low as I could just above the bushes with the camera and hand resting on top of a low post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

Nicely framed/cropped and I love the wake/trail. The only thing that bugs me is the shadow on the undersides of the near-wing.

with love, artie

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Hi Artie, thank you for viewing and commenting. The shadows bugged me a little also but couldn't do anything about them, so they are what they are.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonathan Ashton

Love it! One of your best in my opinion, it is an entertaining and high IQ image. The eye really gets my attention to.
I note Artie's reservation over the shadow...... but I don't actually see what is wrong with it, perfectly natural to me. Shadows happen that's the way I see it.
Equally the right wing tip isn't sharp but for me it is partly DOF coupled with a little movement blur, no bad thing in my book.

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Hi Jon, thank you for viewing and commenting. I think you are correct that the right wing tip isn't sharp because of depth of field. Thank focus point what on the head and neck and the bird with wings spread is quite large.

Nice action you captured Joe. Like the raised foot. Think the bubbles add to the scene as it shows the birds path. DOF on the far wing is fine for me as the foot and head are well focused.

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, much appreciated.

Hi Joe ... such a cool capture and glad you mentioned the bubbles , it adds to the story .
Overall i do like it a lot . Color and tones are very nice ....
Can only agree with Brian about the jagged edges ( fringes) in the neck area , and I am puzzled about your reply regarding these things . I think you are a long time LR user ... so what's new ... you use the deconvolution sharpening all the time :w3. And those jagged edges are coming from TOPAZ and not LR .... at least IMHO .

TFS Andreas

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andreas Liedmann

Hi Joe ... such a cool capture and glad you mentioned the bubbles , it adds to the story .
Overall i do like it a lot . Color and tones are very nice ....
Can only agree with Brian about the jagged edges ( fringes) in the neck area , and I am puzzled about your reply regarding these things . I think you are a long time LR user ... so what's new ... you use the deconvolution sharpening all the time :w3. And those jagged edges are coming from TOPAZ and not LR .... at least IMHO .

TFS Andreas

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Hi Andreas, thank you for viewing and commenting. I guess I forgot to post a redo using Neat Image and Lightroom for sharpening. I agree the jagged edges come from Topaz sharpening. Here is a repost. WDYT?

Joe, sorry for the late reply. I think you figured it out.

Do like the texture and sharpening a good bit more in the second!