Great Blue Heron

[Mark Jones]

My first visit to Venice Rookery this year with my new Canon 1DX, 600 II, 2x III converter, 600 EX-RT with better beamer. We arrived just as the sun was peaking above the horizon and I used the better beamer to throw a little light on this GBH who was sitting on the top of the nesting island shrubs about 200 ft away. Shot processed in Photoshop CS6 using Nik Color Efex Pro 4. Without doing any test exposure, I guessed at -2 FEC but could easily have gone to -1 or even none. Had to do some minor cloning on some small branches at the bottom of it's beard. I haven't posted much to BPN as I find it pretty overwhelming looking at all the excellent shots posted in these forums.

[nick clayton]

I love the warm morning light on the bird, the beautiful neck feathers and sharp detail, I like everything about the bird and the background. The foliage at the bottom of the image is a bit messy, but not much you could do about that Mark.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Beautiful warm light Mark, sharp details and good BG. I was just there too (last week) and I am familiar with the plethora of random twigs from the nest. (Too bad we can't go up and prune them for our photographs...just kidding of course). I don't think you should take anything off the bottom as it would hide the bird's virtual feet. Very well done.

[Mark Jones]

I love the warm morning light on the bird, the beautiful neck feathers and sharp detail, I like everything about the bird and the background. The foliage at the bottom of the image is a bit messy, but not much you could do about that Mark.

I agree completely Nick. I tried cloning out some of the clutter but my PS skills are not up to that much of a challenge unfortunately. Besides, birds do nest in trees and bushes, so I suppose one could argue the branches, while admittedly messy and cluttered, do give a sense of realism as well. That's my excuse anyway! As an aside, my wife and I spend a month or more in the UK each year, mainly in North Yorkshire near Filey. Have you ever been to Bempton Cliffs? We are going back in September. You've some nice shots on your website!

Cheers,

Mark

[Mark Jones]

Beautiful warm light Mark, sharp details and good BG. I was just there too (last week) and I am familiar with the plethora of random twigs from the nest. (Too bad we can't go up and prune them for our photographs...just kidding of course). I don't think you should take anything off the bottom as it would hide the bird's virtual feet. Very well done.

Thanks Dennis.

We'll be over at Venice Rookery again on Monday. Myself with my Canon gear and my friend Tony with his Nikon setup. Hope to see you there perhaps.

Mark

[Marina Scarr]

I was surprised to see you used flash on this, so kudos for making it look natural. You have lovely light and details on the heron. Nest is a bit busy for me, and I would have liked to see the heron set back (to the left) of the frame rather than in the middle. Your best bet is when you return, you can focus on the eye of the bird, and then recompose. Looking forward to seeing more.

[Rachel Hollander]

Stunning warm light and great suggestions by Marina for improving in the field.

TFS,
Rachel

[Greg Oakley]

Super shot - great light and very nice image quality and detail. Agree with above comments about the messy nest etc, but it looks natural to me,
Cheers, Greg