Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron

[Karen Forderer]

There are a couple of juvenile black crowned night herons hanging around a local marsh. The fish are constantly jumping out of the water in this particular spot so it is fun to see the herons going after them. This one likes to sit on the tree limb and wait for the fish to come close. He then jumps in, catches it and hops back up onto the tree limb to eat his snack.

I have lots of shots of him sitting but I liked this one because of the action. Taken a couple of days ago.

D300s
70-200mm at 200mm f8.0
1/500 s
ISO500
no flash
4:30 pm
some NR on background, sharpening of bird, some branches removed from background

I'm not sure if it is sharp enough for the web. I tried it sharper and it looked overdone.
Thanks,
Karen

[Ian Cassell]

Hi Karen. Wonderful behavioral image! I think he's sharp enough by my reckoning. I would be tempted to crop a little tighter (to the viewer's right of the knob on the branch and a little off the bottom), but I'll see what others say.

[Karen Forderer]

Thanks Ian,
I would be fine cropping in closer. Sometimes I tend to crop in pretty close so I was trying to not take too much off. I went back again today and two of the juveniles had a fight in the water. I'm not sure if any of my shots turned out as I wasn't set up for that kind of action.

Karen

[Kerry Perkins]

Good job Karen, nice action like this is always interesting and more engaging than a static pose. Sharpness looks good to me and you have nice exposure and color. I like Ian's crop suggestion, how about a re-post? What do you mean when you say you weren't set up for that kind of action?

[Bob Miller]

HI karen.very nice capture with good sharpness and action. I would crop a bit off the bottom....Loving that eye and the water circles! Hope to see more of your work!

[Karen Forderer]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Kerry, I meant I wasn't ready for some interaction between two juveniles when I returned to this spot the following day.

Here is a repost following the cropping suggestions.

Karen

[Ian Cassell]

Karen, good job! I like this crop much better and, in fact, I might be tempted to crop off one more wavelet on the bottom of the image.