So Many Lessons...

[Arthur Morris]

This Tricolored Heron head portrait was created yesterday at Gatorland at 11:35am on a cloudy day with the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (hand held with the internal extender in place at 436mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/640 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB.

Two sensors to the left of the central sensor/AI Servo-Expand/Rear Focus AF just below and slightly behind the bird’s eye active at the moment of exposure. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

To learn about the creation of this image and the connected lessons see this morning's blog post, "Wind Against Crest," here. There are lessons on head angle, the image optimization, bird behavior, AF point selection, and the versatility of the Canon 200-400.

As for the image, don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

[Satish Ranadive]

Arthur Sir,
Extremely beautiful close up.Wonderful colours with beautiful shades of blues and greys.I like the scattered the crest feathers flying in the air, beautiful eye, absolutely superb details in the feathers.
Tiny feathers from the throat looks very nice.Very nice BG and of course great composition and IQ.

Regards,
Satish.

[rollindrew]

Every time I see one of Arthur Morris's recent magnificent bird images, I think that is his best. But to me this head image of the Tricolored Heron occupies a special catagory because of its composition with the head feathers blowing up from thier customary position leading the viewer's eye toward the long bill. A great bird photograph.

Rollin E. Drew

[shane shacaluga]

Amazingly beautiful portrait. Blue bird on green background rocks!!

Love how the neck curves over and the crest just takes it over the top. Lovely details all round

Question on the 200-400, how slow do you think you could you go at 540mm handheld and still get sharp images?

TFS ;)

PS: Thanks for the Control M shortcut, thats a few extra seconds of my life i can use to do something else ;)

[WillieHall]

It is exposure to images like this that inspire me toward improving my eye and photos. The wind blowing the feathers is a fortunate element that probably sets it apart from others you probably shot. thanks for posting

[Frank Schauf]

Perfect comp and light, nice work.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Stunning pic, Arthur - you don't get them clearer than this! Well done!

[Rob Melone]

Love the pastels, sharpness, bg and most of all the intriguing curled head feathers. Also, the contrasting eye color.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Those old hands and eyes have great timing... beautiful image. Thanks for sharing.

[Arthur Morris]

It is exposure to images like this that inspire me toward improving my eye and photos. The wind blowing the feathers is a fortunate element that probably sets it apart from others you probably shot. thanks for posting

Hey Willie, Thanks for your especially kind words :)

[christopher galeski]

very nice image,great detail,tack sharp,nice BG.

[Robert Kimbrell]

A beautiful image. Looks like you had some light on the background, It produced a very nice green that set off the Heron well. Also pleasing head feathers, I feel if gives depth to the shot.

[Arthur Morris]

A beautiful image. Looks like you had some light on the background, It produced a very nice green that set off the Heron well. Also pleasing head feathers, I feel if gives depth to the shot.

Thanks Robert. There was no light on the BKGR; it was dark...