Great Blue Heron

[Barry Ekstrand]

A shot from this past spring on a visit to Gatorland in Orlando, Florida.

Canon 5D Mark III, EF 400mm 5.6L
Av mode, 400mm, f5.6, ISO 800, +1EV, 1/1000 sec
Processed in Lightroom, cropped to vertical from a horizontal, resulting photo is ~45% of original size

Any and all comments appreciated.

Barry

[Loi Nguyen]

Barry, nice and sharp. The light was a bit harsh, but you handled the exposure well The BG is a bit busy and the heron is a little tall in the frame. With hindsight, had you shot this image as a vertical, you wouldn't have to crop as much and there would be more room on top. Loi

[Doug Brown]

Good points by Loi above. The whites look a little cooked on my monitor. Against a dark BG, I'd be reluctant to add a stop of exposure to a subject with small patches of white feathers.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Agree with said comments. I love that cool rooty perch and great detail on the heron. BG a bit busy for me

[Dan Busby]

Hi Barry. Good comments above. Whites are a bit bright to me but great pose and detail. The feather at the tip of the beak works for me!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the heron's posture and the perch he is standing on is so gnarly...cool! I agree with the previous critiques...

[Barry Ekstrand]

Thanks all, I appreciate the comments. This was definitely overexposed, I dialed it back quite a bit in LR, and in hindsight I do wish I had shot it veritcal. I continue to learn, the comments here at BPN have been very helpful for me and they are much appreciated.

Barry

[Sandy Witvoet]

Barry, great detail in the "plume" feathers... wonderful pose...totally love the perch and those giant feet! Yep, whites a bit hot (but you already know that)... I likely "stray" from the "bird in a neutral background" group, but I would actually like to see a bit more bg! Images that I would put on my living room wall need more than just a bird plopped in a mat and frame.... In other words... I love this.