Green Heron

[Edward Arthur]

I was waiting in the shadows watching this guy peck in the muck for minnows. When he spotted me, he hopped up on this perch into the light and then immediately fled a few feet up into a tree. I could only get two shots off. This one's the best.

Recently acquired lens so a very early trial.
Canon 6D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L
1/500 f/6.3 ISO 400 and HH
LR white/black/shadows/highlights tweaks
Topaz Denoise and a touch of Detail
Gaussian blur 4.5 in PS for the BG

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I like it, Edward! It was probably telling you 'If you wanna take a pic, do it now!'!

Sharp, nice BG. Not too sure what the darker / lighter areas on its body is about - was it under a tree with the leaves casting shadows on it?

[Edward Arthur]

Thank you, Tobie. Yes, that's dappled light through some overhanging trees. The scene was mostly in shadows so my wish came true that the bird would move right where it did.

[David Kenny]

Nice one! The bird looks nice and sharp and it is isolated nicely against the background. Was this image a crop? IMHO I would like to see a bit more room on the bottom of the frame I feel it is a little tight around the feet/toes. But that's not a deal breaker, its still a great shot.

-Dave

[Edward Arthur]

Thanks much, Dave. It's about 30% of the original frame. I totally agree with more room at the bottom but I was at a low angle and somewhat uphill from the bird so had to shoot through some foliage which made the lower part smeary. Being pp-challenged, I opted to just crop.

[Diane Miller]

Very nice shot! The bird looks very sharp, especially for the large crop. Also well-exposed for the dappled light, with good shadow detail. It pays to act fast!

It could be interesting to see one with a little less crop. I'm thinking the OOF stuff at the bottom could be nice. You might consider a slight desaturation of the greens (which are usually yellows) for the stuff at the bottom. You would need to mask that adjustment layer so it didn't apply to the yellows elsewhere in the image.

If that's new to you, see my tutorial on Layers in the Stickies at the top of the posts here.

[Edward Arthur]

Appreciate the feedback and suggestion, Diane! Now you guys got me thinking and I accept the challenge. I'll give it my best shot and repost. After all, we don't learn and improve if we don't take risks every now and then. (I think I've told my kids that same thing once or twice.)

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Nice image, and I have no problem with the crop. Personally, what I would take away from the image is the need to avoid uneven lighting. IMO it would been preferable to have taken advantage of the shade, and used exposing to the right to control the higher ISOs that would be required. regards~Bill