Great Blue Heron portrait

Decided to play around with the camera settings with this cooperative GBH. Shot wide open as it fished next to me.

http://www.pbase.com/duane_va/image/...4/original.jpg


I know the end of the beak is oof but I was concentrating on the eye. I also lightened the eye.

<TABLE border=1 cellPadding=1 width=450 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Make</TD><TD class=lid>Canon</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Model</TD><TD class=lid>Canon EOS 50D</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Flash Used</TD><TD class=lid>No</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Focal Length</TD><TD class=lid>500 mm</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Exposure Time</TD><TD class=lid>1/400 sec</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Aperture</TD><TD class=lid>f/4</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>ISO Equivalent</TD><TD class=lid>160</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Exposure Bias</TD><TD class=lid>-1</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>White Balance</TD><TD class=lid></TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Metering Mode</TD><TD class=lid>partial</TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>JPEG Quality</TD><TD class=lid></TD></TR><TR><TD class=lid noWrap>Exposure Program</TD><TD class=lid>aperture priority</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

I like his look of concentration. Maybe try a vertical crop to remove some of the dead space?

That's a great eye and good detail showing the texture of the beak. The BG seems a bit "heavy" to me - maybe a little lightening might allow that rear head feather to show better. The tip of the beak goes oof - I think the image would be better if it could be sharp to the end, either with a slight head turn or an aperture 5.6 setting.

Hi Duane - Interesting choice to go wide-open here. You get a sliver across the eye and everything else heads toward the bokeh. Makes for a kind of unique, artsy shot. A higher DOF would have been good here as well but would have been more "typical." I hate to say it because I hate to hear it but the white on the head appears a bit warm to me. Thanks!

Thanks everyone. I was trying for something different here and I have plenty of "typical" profile images of this Heron. I agree about the whites on top of the head being toasted.

Vertical crop....quick job, some cloning mistakes (cloned our part of the shoulder) and some noise in the bg but I agree about the different crop.

http://www.pbase.com/duane_va/image/...1/original.jpg