B.C. Night Heron, gathering the greens

[Jack Breakfast]

Sweethearts of the bird kingdom, here is a picture from the Leslie St. Spit rookery of dreams! The Toronto construction dumpsite slash bird sanctuary! This picture was taken with the Canon 7D and 70-300L at 300mm; iso400, 1/2000, f5.6. What you are perusing here accounts for precisely 63% of the original capture. A longer lens would have helped! But still: not bad! Anyhow, I'll welcome your thoughts and ideas. I never used to crop pictures like this, or frame them like this. I'd put my subjects smack in the middle. Now my eyes have changed. Putting a subject in the middle's o.k. sometimes but usually not! Eyes change; brains change; pictures change. Studying the nest-building cormorants and b.c. night herons and a few egrets for good measure will keep a fellow young while the world ages around him! Also: this photo was taken on May the 21st. Not so recent, I know, but I have only recently unearthed it as I am forever two months backed-up when it comes to everything in my life. Also, and on an unrelated note: currently there is a MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD in southern Ontario! What in the world is going on with this world? Are we doomed? All the best, folks...
p.s. Still: less room on the right and on top? I think folks might suggest that. Maybe folks are right. I don't know! Share your thoughts and I'll be grateful!

[Jack Breakfast]

Also: perhaps I should have bumped up to iso800 and f8? Extra DOF can help in situations like these, wing-wise, maybe? Would that have allowed for more focus on the far wing?

[Randy Stout]

Jack:

Good exposure, sharp, good wings up position, foliage,.

Shooting angle a bit steep.

Since you asked, I would crop it something like this. The colors are off, Not sure what color profile you are using, but you should get the idea.

Cheers

Randy

[Jack Breakfast]

Hi Randy,
I was using sRGB...I must say that on my monitor the colors in the OP look fine and the colors in your repost look sort of wild...there's a strong pinkish hue...I'll be curious to hear how things look to other folks? Here's my original again, in sRGB...

[Randy Stout]

Jack:

Yes, the colors are goofy. My worklow was all set for sRGB as well, so not sure where the color change came from, but the idea was to show the crop option.

Cheers

Randy

[Jack Breakfast]

Randy: you are swift; I am not. I often have a hard time understanding things and people. Strangely: birds SORT OF make sense to me. Anyhow: your crop is good. Thank you for the lesson. I like your crop better than mine. Much appreciated!
PS I would give so much for a less-steep shooting angle, but that would be impossible at this particular location. That said, I hope to visit some other world rookeries/heronries before my life is over...my obsessive need to document what's around me will keep the angles steep for the moment...

[Melissa Groo]

Steep angle aside, I think it's a lovely shot. The details, the nesting material, the view of that beautiful left wing, the heart shaped leaf. Nice one.

[PhilCook]

My self...the original color looks good to me and I guess the angle is a steepish, but not overly and is more natural....I'm into more natural images lol Not sure the original needs any cropping at all, looks fine, and admit to being confused regarding a lot of cropping, possibly cropping this further would make it a bit big in the frame ?....I really think personal tastes has a lot to do with it.
Great natural and behavioral shot, the blue sky and greenery contrast well and the light looks good on the bird...very nice.

[Jack Breakfast]

Many thanks Melissa & Phil for the encouraging words. I appreciate your taking the time...

[Marina Scarr]

Nice flight pose on this BCNH. I really like the nesting materials. I find the blue sky overpowering. Worked on your photo a little. Lightened the sky a bit; darkened the underpinnings of the bird a little; changed the crop; and, finally, while I was at it, used the transform tool to lower the flying angle of your bird a little bit so it wouldn't look so steep. I think you have a pretty nice picture here and it's worth working on.

[Melissa Groo]

Nice job, Marina. When you have a chance, would you mind laying out how you do that with the Transform tool? Looks like a neat trick.

[Marina Scarr]

When you have a chance, would you mind laying out how you do that with the Transform tool? Looks like a neat trick.

Believe it or not this is the first time I have altered a picture so that it wouldn't look so steep, but I guess there's a first for everything. Use the crop took to target the space you want to change, hit Control + T (for transform) and then you can drag a corner which ever way you want to until it is at a preferred angle. I think at the end you need to click enter.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Nice exposure, love the red eye and the lumber he's carrying. Like what Marina has done with the image.

Re. the color difference issue.
Your OP is untagged, i.e., it does not have a color profile embedded in it.
This means that if I were to open it in PS, by default, PS would assume that it has my default profile (I'm guessing that's RGB in Randy's case)
When you take an image that was actually sRGB (although untagged) and assume that it is RGB, a strange color shift happens. Hope that makes sense.

Also note that not all browsers are color managed. For web presentation, sRBG is the recommended profile to tag your images with.
If you're using PS "save for web", be sure and check both "Embed color profile" and "Convert to sRGB".

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot. Wonderful light, exposed very well, love the nesting material, and Randy's or Marina's crops work for me.
Well done.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Marina's repost does the trick (just need to get the blues peeking through the leaves). I like the pose alot Jack, and the fact it has neat fresh nesting material. Your techs were fine...at that distance you are usually OK with DOF.

I saw all the frigatebird reports on Ontbirds this week. CRAZY!

[Jack Breakfast]

Thanks kindly, all. Marina: I appreciate your taking the time. Most helpful indeed! I like what you've done with the picture. Sidharth, many thanks for the tips...I always convert my images to sRGB but never in that way...will do it your way from now on. Wonderful, folks! Very nice! Thank you for your input and insight!