Black-crowned Night Heron

[John Stuelpnagel]

I captured this picture as the heron was emerging from the shadows. I wish that both eyes would have been lit.
In PS, I added a bit of canvass to the bottom and repaired the left wing tip (thanks to suggestions from Robert O'Toole's APTATS).
500M3, 600mm, 1/4000, f5.6, ISO 800, HH
Thanks for looking.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Not often we see an incoming pose with this species, well done locking focus. The dark BG works well to make this guy pop. The wing repair and canvas extension is very well done, but I am wanting yet more room down there (or the bird higher in the frame if retaining the same ratio). Lots of posterization in the BG, especially lower half, certainly due to resizing.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

A photo taken against all odds in terms of technical difficulties. Great one, well done!

[John Stuelpnagel]

Thanks for the comments.
Daniel, I apologize in advance for my ignorance. Could you please explain what you mean by posterization of the background and how could it be avoided? FYI, the background in this image were out-of focus rocks, some whiter than others that created lighter areas. I used Neat filter for noise on the background before resizing. The resizing was substantial as the frame was nearly full.
Thanks again!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi John, posterization is the odd "digital" artifacts at the edges of the colour variances in the BG (for lack of proper definition). It is visible when looking at the monitor straight-on but if you are still not sure tilt your monitor down or sideways and look at the BG (assuming your monitor is an LCD type). It tends to happen with heavy NR to the BG when there is tonal variation within it, especially with darker colours such as here or deep greens. That, combined with substantial resizing and quality reduction to fit the posting specs does that sometimes. How did you resize your image?

[John Stuelpnagel]

Hi John, posterization is the odd "digital" artifacts at the edges of the colour variances in the BG (for lack of proper definition). It is visible when looking at the monitor straight-on but if you are still not sure tilt your monitor down or sideways and look at the BG (assuming your monitor is an LCD type). It tends to happen with heavy NR to the BG when there is tonal variation within it, especially with darker colours such as here or deep greens. That, combined with substantial resizing and quality reduction to fit the posting specs does that sometimes. How did you resize your image?

Thanks Daniel! I really appreciate the explanation. I used the bicubic sharper in PS to reduce the image. I will try others to see if it makes a difference.