Tri-colored Heron

[Jeannean Ryman]

This photo of a Tri-colored heron was taken at South Padre Island, TX, early in the morning (a bit later than the others I posted...probably around 8am) and the wind had picked up. I liked the wing lift and finally had enough light to increase my shutter speed and f stop to "freeze" this fast and furious bird. Your thoughts, suggestions, and tips for improvement are always welcome. (Nikon D7000/500mm f/4-P@1/1250, f/8, ISO 640) Basic processing in LR4 and CS5.)

[P-A. Fortin]

Spectacular bird. I love it. The wing lift is great and the raised foot just makes it awesome to me. Bird is sharp and well frozen. Good reaction of rising the shutter speed.

As for improvement, I wonder if it would be possible to recover just a bit of detail in the brighter white spot under the wing. I would also crop a bit off the lower part and add some room on top, maybe a bit to the right as well.

[Oscar Baez Soria]

Love the pose and detail on the bird itself. Agree about the detail under the wing. Perhaps bringing down the exposure in that area would bring some details forward.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Jeannean,

Greetings. Good looking color & low angle, just right. It's always difficult with ripples but I wonder what this would look light with a slight cw rotation. I second P.A.'s crop suggestions. I really like tha action and the tricolor, well, colors. Good show!

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Jeannean Ryman]

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. I was so focused on the head, I didn't notice the underwing. Thank you for pointing that out to me. (Doh!) I went back into LR4 and did a brush adjustment of -14 exposure and increased the clarity to around 36. I then did a round of selective sharpening in CS5 with Smart Sharpen. I think it immediately looked better. As for cropping, this was nearly full frame, so I added some canvas at the top and right, and took a bit off the bottom. Hope this is what you had in mind.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Jeannean,

The repost looks great. Nice work on the whites & the canvas for the crop.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Kerry Perkins]

Jeannean, really excellent work especially on the repost! Love the pose and detail, color and exposure looking good as well. Please keep them coming, enjoying your images and your comments are much appreciated by others.

[Randall Farhy]

I like the 2nd version much better, mainly due to aspect ratio and added space top and right of the subject, it's a less crowded and better balanced image. Oh, btw- fantastic capture and lighting!

[Cathy McEntee]

Beautiful image Jeannean--love the pose and beautiful detail.