Reddish Egret stalking

[Dennis Zaebst]

Reddish Egret on the hunt. Taken at Merritt Island (Black Pointe Drive) this August.

Canon 7D ISO 800; 500 mm f/4L IS + EF 1.4x TCII; 1/2500 sec. @ f/8.0. PP in LR 4.3; cropped for composition; sharpened egret and luminance smoothing on BG. Also used adjustment brush on beak to tone down specular highlights.

C/C always encouraged and welcome.

[Shawn Zierman]

I like the subject movement, but more than that, I enjoy the sense of place the image gives.
Compositionally, a consideration could be trading a little space off the bottom for a little more on top.
A bit of a head turn towards us would be nice, and would have illuminated the face more effectively.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Dennis, Yes, a nice habitat image with a nice image design. The bird's feathers look quite grungy/grainy (without any fine detail) as if they were over-lightened.... Head angle problem well dissected by Shawn above.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice composition showing the habitat, Dennis. Problems have been mentioned.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I agree with the advice offered above. I do like the subject and the sense of habitat here.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Thanks for the very helpful critiques, everyone. Artie, I hadn't noticed the graininess before in the bird's body, but you are correct....I believe I overdid the sharpening and the shadows slider on the bird, and I have adjusted accordingly (in attached). I also adjusted the crop, adding more space at the top and less at the bottom. I can't do much about the head angle, as this "Tyrannosaurus Rex" of the bird world was intent on getting his lunch. I believe the lack of fine detail in some of the feathers might be due to an insufficient sun angle. As I recall, on that day it was partly cloudy with high thin clouds, hence the apparent softness of the light.

I hope this is an improvement. Let me know if any other questions or suggestions!

Thanks,