White-morph Reddish Egrets in aerial battle (redo from ETL)

[Jeannean Ryman]

I was pretty excited to witness this aerial battle between these White-morph Reddish Egrets recently at South Padre Island, TX. I posted the original in the ETL forum and after some very good suggestions and feedback, did a redo. (suggestions were tighter crop, a bit of white neutralizer, more contrast) I think it looks better and appreciate their comments. I thought I would post it over here to get feedback from you as well. I don't print many of my photos, but I think I might print this one., so would like to get it right before doing so. Techs: partly cloudy morning with the sun in and out. Shot with Nikon D7000/500mm f/4-P, 1.6x TC, @1/3200 f/4, ISO 640 on a tripod/gimbal head. Your comments, suggestions, and feedback are most appreciated.

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Jeannean,

Excellent interaction, it is tough to get both birds sharp in the frame and you did well. Excellent exposure too. y

for some reason the server resized your file to 1024 pixels. I have to look into this

[Karl Egressy]

Wow, this is a spectacular image. The white m0orph is pretty rare getting two in the frame fighting is like hitting the jack pot.
Amazing work.

[Robert Kimbrell]

Very nice job on the redo Jeannean. You really got the whites to look beautiful. I think the crop is improved also. I think the blue in the close leg is a little too bold, I might darken it a little. but leave the blue highlights. You should be so happy with that shot.

[vishaljadhav]

Thats lovely action you have captured here, both the birds appear in decent focus, lovely exposure too
Nicely done

[stuart wanuck]

Very well done great exposure and interaction

[Grace Scalzo]

Congrats from me on this beauty of a shot. Super subjects, interaction, and exposure. The flying droplets are icing on a beautiful cake.

[Dave Johnson]

Superb action captured here Jeannean. I especially like the wing position on the right hand bird. Oodles of detail in the whites. Super shot, well done.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Love it. Great body language and expressions and you got them in breeding color too! Sweet shot.

[jack williamson]

This is one of those rare moments when everything just comes together. Birds in the same plane of focus, perfect exposure, excellent comp and bg. Congratulations.

Jack

[Marina Scarr]

It's GREAT to see you posting in avian, and what a great image to start off with. Your whites look awesome. The details on that near bird and that flipped tail are just out of this world. Killer interaction. This is a contest image.

[Frank Schauf]

Great timing, great action.

[Jeannean Ryman]

Thank you all for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate the feedback. I'll try to get over my intimidation of this forum and post more often.

[Steve Canuel]

Great shot. Nice detail, the birds are nicely angled toward the viewer and the wing positions are different in a complimentary way.

[David Salem]

This is a very very nice shot. This is not easy to get. I have tried with Snowy Egrets many times and still have yet to get a shot this good. The exposure is perfect and the head angles and poses are great. Wonderful!!