Squacco Heron

[Ken Watkins]

I have tried for years to get something reasonable of this bird, this one posed in great light and relatively in the open on Lake Manze Channel, Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania, 5th July 2012, taken from drifting boat. Could have done with some more room at bottom!

EOS 1D Mk IV

500mm F4 hand held

F4, ISO 800, 1/1600

[Ofer Levy]

Sweet image! I love seeing the habitat and a lovely low angle. IMHO it looks bit over-saturated, needs some more room at the bottom and a slight head turn.

[gail bisson]

Hi Ken,
Ofer has pretty much summed up the critique perfectly!
I would desaturate a bit,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

Looks great, and the vegetation is very appealing. Nice composition. I agree with your self critique about more room at bottom, and I agree with Ofer about a better HA. The yellows do seem to be saturated lots, perhaps a cooler WB would work too.

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful image, with gorgeous light. Colors really pop, but perhaps a tad too much. Light is beautiful. Good comments above.

[Sachin Saraf]

Hi Ken,

This is beautiful image in great light...Love the inclusion of habitat and low angle...Ofer pointed out some key issues and could be corrected easily.

[David Salem]

Nice shot in a nice scene. Well exposed and full of detail. Tone down saturation a bit and this image will be at its best. Good Job!

David

[Arthur Morris]

Gorgeous bird and setting. All suggestions above are excellent. Do you have more room below in the ORIG?

[Chris Kotze]

Super pose and a great low angle. I like the grass in the foreground and the saturation nit covered

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Ken, one of your best IMHO. Great low perspective from your boat, lovely early morning light, and I would like you to try a version with a touch of de-saturation. Great seeing this guy in the open - an opportunity well used.

[Markus Jais]

Beautiful shot with great composition. I like the colors as presented. Agree with the others about the head turn.

Markus

[Oscar Dewhurst]

Head turn doesn't bother me too much, but would prefer more room at the bottom as you say, and I think the colours could be toned down, otherwise very nice image

Oscar

[dankearl]

Sweet shot, Ken, the saturation is about as easy a fix as there is.
The bird really pops!

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks to everybody for your kind comments, I have no idea why I posted this clearly over saturated and as soon as I saw Ofer's comment I realised the error.
This is actually full frame and I unfortunately have no more room at the bottom and I figured that adding more canvas would be very difficult to disguise.
One of the problems with being on a boat is that even with the engine off it is still moving and tends to bob up and down a bit

Here is a repost which I hope improves it? My PS skills are minimal I am hoping to get some "one to one" soon.