Great egret fishing

D90 70-200VR+2X@360 1/4000 f8.0 ISO1000 -1 1/3EV handheld

This is from last week. I watched him catch a half-dozen small fish. The image is minimally cropped, but is extensively tweaked. I'm curious how it (particularly the whites) presents?

Wendell

Good job on exposing the whites and the fish is bonus -- I would try some CCW rotation and see if it looks better

To me the image looks a little over-processed. Feather detail in the wings and body seem to be compromised. Comp looks good and whites as well.

Neat pose and good timing on the fish flip. To me the whites look muddied in places, especially in the head area. I'd be curious to see what the original looked like as I'd like to see what it is you wanted to tweak. I'm also seeing some cloning evidence in the water.

Daniel, here is the original. No I didn't clone anything in the water (that i remember). as for the whites, I wanted them to be better "defined."

Thanks Wendell. I think the egret needed to go whiter rather than grayer. A simple "Levels" adjustment is all I did here (whites whiter, blacks darker). I did clip the blacks in the legs a bit here - something to watch out for if you decide to do it.

Daniel, you re-post looks real good. I'll use Levels. I guess I was striving for "texture", "definition", "highs/lows", shadows/highlights" in the feathers that simply are not there to be seen in egrets. As you can see, I don't know how to express what I think I was looking for, trying to accomplish. 'Preciate your work on this . . . Maybe mine is that age-old, not uncommon, problem with photographing white birds.

Re-post makes a big difference. Good advise given.