Folks: another shot from my close-up encounter with a cozy black-crowned night heron. Nikon D90, 70-300VR. 300mm, iso250, 1/640, f8. Although I miss the beastly red eyes, I'm glad to see the fine scatcher doing his thing so merrily! This is roughly 90% of the original...I took a little slice off the top. Many thanks (in advance) for your thoughts and opinions and ideas. In particular RE the orbs of light!
Hi Jack,
I do not like the orbs of light ! I could live with the ones above the head but not the ones on RHS and bottom of frame.
Great view of the toes and little nails. Good pose. Great detail in head feathers,
Gail
Gail, my excellent countryperson: one birdperson's meat as another one's poison! I like the orbs of light but could absolutely and easily see why some would be dead-set against them. An easy removal, if I were so inclined. Thanks for writing in with your input, which I value!
Hi Jack - Great feather detail and a fun moment. I'm usually an orb fan, but in this case, would prefer the image if they were toned down a bit. The first place my eye goes when I look at the pic are the brightest orbs.
Very nice shot Jack.
I really like the scratching pose, dont mind the closed eye, excellent details, and great comp.
After looking at this for a while.. Im with Gail on the lower orbs. Either way... Still a great shot.
Well done.
Jack - love the heron but those highlights in the water... not for me! If they were subtle just maybe, but they compete far too strongly for attention in my opinion.
I really like the heron as presented but I wonder if it would benefit from a little more contrast to give it a more punch.
i'm generally a fan of pictures that have competitive elements, e.g. a waterbird on colorful textured water, where the subject is actually twofold. I like the idea of attention being drawn away from the bird and then back again. The idea that (in this case) the eye begins on the bird, moves to the orbs of doom, then goes back to the bird. I like what you smart and talented folks have to say, and think I'm going to tone the orbs down rather than eliminate them entirely. Yes yes. It's silly, I know, but I like the idea of the bird's eyes being tightly shut because he can't stand the sight of those overly bright and mysterious glowing orbs! It looks that way to me, anyhow. But now we're (almost) getting into the dreaded world of anthropomorphism; I know it's bad even if I can't always say why. It's not as though I'm quite ready to burn my Beatrix Potter books yet, so I suppose my heart is conflicted. Onward!
Very nice detail in the feathers, but I will agree that the highlights are just too much for me. I would consider darkening them (or removing) and then lightening the bird up a bit.
Another look at the same fine heron
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