Little Blue Heron immature, preening

[Bill Dix]

From Jamaica Bay last August. Taken from a blind, so I was very close -- this is full-frame. Had he not been preening, he wouldn't have fit in the frame. What I liked about this was his pristine whiteness, looking like he just came back from the dry cleaners. Removed one oof bird from the bg.

D7000, 500f4, ISO 400, 1/2000s @ f7.1 manual.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Bill,

It's always nice to see a perfectly exposed white bird. This is no exception. Like you mentioned, the pristine whiteness is very attractive. I don't know much about these guys, but I would assume that means that he is extra young (do they start developing some of the blue along the edges of their wings first?).

Great job on the composition. Glad you were able to get the entire bird with some of the perch as well.

Miguel

[Melissa Groo]

Super job on your whites, with both exposure and detail, Bill. Lovely preening pose. I know Artie has dinged me before with head angle of a preening bird--how it needs to be parallel to the camera for the image to work--so that might be an issue here, will be interesting to see what others say.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the exposure, details, preening pose and in camera composition. Well done Bill!

[John Chardine]

Hi Bill- For me there are two focal points- the feet and the eye. I like this. I think the saturation could be punched up a little.

[gail bisson]

Hi Bill,
I agree with your self assessment in your intro. Love the whites and your exposure is spot on.
I think I would like to see a bit more room behind the bird. and less in front. I tried it by adding more canvas on left and cropped from right and really liked it.
I agree with John that the saturation could be punched up just a bit.
Very nice image as is though,
Gail

[christopher galeski]

nice capture Bill,good exposure,nice details in the whites,for me a bit more room on the left.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the preening pose...yes, the head more parallel to the sensor plane would have been nice but I find that it works well here. The light angle gave you some neat shadows from the feathers on the wing. I just wish you had more light on the legs, but I guess it's a trade-off. Great job with the whites.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks all. I agree that the off-angle lighting was not ideal for the legs, but helped bring out some detail in the plumage. (And it was also a bit on the harsh side. -- Topaz Detail helped here.)

Here's a repost with a slivver of additional canvas on the left and corresponding crop from the right. And a boost in saturation. The saturation does help. I'm not totally convinced about the additional canvas. (And for fun, see next pane.)

[Bill Dix]

I've been looking at Audubon prints of wading birds and others. Many of his images have the birds virtually touching the edge of the canvas. Here's my take on how he might have presented this one. (But of course that's pretty presumptuous of me -- I'm no Audubon and this is not a painting.)

[Bill Dix]

Bill,

I don't know much about these guys, but I would assume that means that he is extra young (do they start developing some of the blue along the edges of their wings first?).


Miguel

Thanks Miguel. I don't really understand the timing of their molt. But I have some images of one of these guys showing a bit of blotchy blue-grey on wings, wing coverts, mantle and head. Curiously, those images were taken in New Jersey in May of 2009, while this pristine white one was in Jamaica Bay in August. And I also have a pure white one taken in Ding Darling in November a few years ago. So go figure.