Bare-Throated Tiger-Heron

I'm off to Costa Rica on Friday to lead a photo tour with quite a few BPN members, some of whom I'll have the pleasure of meeting for the first time. I photographed this Tiger-Heron from a small boat in Tortuguero. Shooting wide open gave me the soft FG and BG I was looking for (I applied no blurring to the image in PP). Hopefully we'll all get some great images on this year's trip!

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/pho...82_DRJXA-O.jpg

Canon 1D Mark III, 500mm + 1.4x, f/5.6, 1/800, ISO 800, no flash, hand held from wobbly little boat :)

I love your concept here Doug. Having both the FG and BG OOF isolates the bird and focuses attention on his head. I would suggest that you brighten the head some, at least the eye.

I love it and wouldn't change a thing, the comp, the light, the pose, the detail, the FG, the BG, the colors, all is superb IMHO. Congratulations for what I think is a terrific shot.

I also like the OOF BG FG elements here Doug; not sure if a little fill flash would have helped, but perhaps. Great work mate! Hope you enjoy your tour to Costa Rica. Look forward to seeing many great images from down there. Congrats!

Nice image Doug. I like the mysterious look the OOF grasses offer. I did see a couple of Tiger Herons on Rios Pacaure but I had no camera because we were white-water rafting at the time. It was still a marvelous trip. Enjoy yours!

My kind of blurring I love using foliage as a compositional element. Really nice work. Have a great time!

Although not fluffy white clouds, this image has a dreamy feel to it thanks to your excellent use of OOF FG elements. The image may benefit from a bit of warming of the colour temp. Good luck in Costa Rica...looking forward to seeing some of your results! :-)

I like this a lot Doug, a great species and the green oof fg makes a great framing element.

Doug, Really like the effect-Well done. I never saw one of these before so thanks for sharing. Have fun and get lots of images to post!!

Cool shot Doug! like the shallow DOF. See ya saturday!:D

Doug, I loved this shot when you took it last year and like it just as much today. I think the exposure is right on.

See you tomorrow night, amigo.

Cheers,
Greg

Love it, Doug. Well seen, and very artistic. Have a great trip. Looking forward to images.

Lovely portrait - pin-sharp with great BG. Hope you have a great trip!

Doug this one is fantastic. Love the Bg, the soft and sweet light and the beautifull OOF foreground. Really good job.