One from a visit last year to Merritt Island NWR, FL
Nikon D5000
Sigma 150-500mm iso200, f/6.3, 500mm, 1/1000, tripod
Processed in LR 3, cropped for framing (70% of original remaining), brought the exposure up a litle, added a little vibrance and saturation, slight curves adjustment, and sharpened.
I'm fairly happy with the image other than the crop. The original had a lot of space to the right, a lttle on top, and most of the left side is in the crop. Also, I wonder if the image wuold not have been better if I had stopped done a little, say to f/8. As I mentioned in the hummingbird, I have a tendancy to shoot the Sigma wide open as a means of keeping the iso down. Because of that, I lose DOF, altough I don't think that is a problem with this image.
Beautiful shot Collin . I'm loosing the Egret's head a bit in the Bg . I think I would darken the Bg just a tad . I also would remove 4 green weeds in the water ,but leave the 3 that make a ( L ) in the left lower frame . I really like the color of the bird and the intense Hunting look , It's a keeper for sure !
My comment ,My suggestion ,your mileage will very .
Nice capture Colin- ISO 200/ 1/1000- Hmm...only critique that I can add that I feel would be helpful-the water's harsh glare is distracting. You have exposure room with ISO400 to have used a polarizing filter to reduce the contrast and glare from the water and from the flank of the bird. (high quality-otherwise I wouldn't bother). Also, square crops are not my favorite, but every once in a while...the pose struck here looks like it may work in square, tighter to the rear with room in the front. Other than that, I'd ditch the 8x10? ratio for something more rectangular to drop the top down a bit.
Last edited by Randall Farhy; 10-23-2012 at 09:59 PM.
Both Clyde and Randall have made some good points to consider. The egret is wonderful, but agree, it does get lost a bit in the environment with the current crop. I would probably keep the original ratio and crop down from the top to see if that would work better.
Thanks for the comments. I agree about the polorizing filter, the water is a little harsh. I don't have oine for that lens, probably should think about one fur the future. WHen I get home this evening, I'll make an attempt to darken the BG, get rid of the small weeds by the egret and post a recropped version.
Colin
Last edited by Colin Gilyeat; 10-24-2012 at 07:43 AM.
Clyde, thanks. I'm not real happy with my work on darkening the background. It's not as smooth and clean as it should be, but that something I'll do better with more practice. I used te content aware fill in the demo of PS CS6 that I have, so cloing out the leaves looks OK. I'll have to bite the bullet and upgrade my copy of photoshop to CS 6.
I like the improved version, the Egret stands out much better. If you decide to go back over the background, consider either Gaussian blur or moderate to strong noise reduction using a graduated filter mask on the darker sections of the bg leading to the brighter water. It should enhance the bokeh and DoF effects. (Layer mask on Egret). Keep up the good work!!
Reddish Egret
