Goliath Heron and some Breakfast

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Everyone!

This image was taken last Saturday morning during a boat trip on St Lucia Lake. Which by the way is a World Heritage Site (only 45 min away from my home) and a very special place where hippopotamus, crocodile and shark (as well as many other species) share the same environment. We had a big boat to ourselves, just us four photographers and the guide. Kian - owner of Shakabarker Tours and an old friend - knows all the avian, aquatic and wildlife species so well and understands their behaviour, it is thanks to his skills that we were privileged to get so close to Kinfishers, Fish Eagles, Hippo Pods and other species.

Here's just one image I chose to post tonight, perhaps not my best because I had to leave the tripod behind and dash to the side of the boat - my equipment handheld - to grab this before the Heron greedily swallowed his catch. Nothing to compare with the IQ of Daniel's latest post, but still some elements of interest with the eye half-closed from the bird and the fish conveniently facing the camera, hope you at least enjoy the sighting.

Nikon D4
Nikon 500 F4.0
ISO 500
1/1600s
F6.3

NB. Wish I had F7.1 and ISO 800 or more, I do not normally shy from high ISO because I trust my equipment and like to play with various settings, but really there was no time...The top part of the bill does not look right, there was indeed water on it and there's movement, but still, not sure what makes half of it sharp and the end unsharp? Only water could be the reason, I think.

I was busy taking images of hippo on the opposite side of the boat when this sighting came up. This is a 50% crop and I had to eliminate some grasses in the BG during processing. Quite a bit of PP work and not sure it was worth it, kindly give me a critique and some technical advice if you feel this can be improved.

[William Dickson]

Gabriela I opened this image and the first thing that immediately got my attention was THAT EYE . I thereafter read your story and returned to the image. Still the Eye. Fantastic image, luv it.

PS The eye on the fish is neat aswell

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you William, I guess if you like the eyes you might forgive the rest, which is not as neat as it should be

Very grateful for your kind comments and time to view, appreciated

Kind regards,

[Mike Poole]

At times, I feel that we strive to hard to have every little detail looking pin sharp and perfect in our shots, and sometimes this is to the detriment of the final image. IMHO, you're overthinking and worrying about the movement in the beak - none of us who observe nature would think for one moment the heron would sit and balance the fish perfectly still for a few seconds - if they're anything like British herons the action is over in an instant and in this respect, I much prefer the shot with the movement whilst retaining sharpness where it matters.

The herons eye is a definite point of interest, and what us Brits might describe as being a 'marmite' detail (i.e. you either love it or hate it). I like it, again, it's real nature in action.

For me it's a winner - sharp where it matters, a great pose and a subtle amount of the peak of the action timing

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much, dear Mike!

I am afraid I have fallen for the obsession with perfection, nevertheless my desire to share is so overwhelming even when I know I do not have the perfect shot. Perhaps the desire for perfection is just a way to keep us learning? Tired of spending hours fixing my images in LR and CS6, I am now focusing on taking better images, learning my equipment and what it can do for me, experimenting with various settings. Less PP work and more time out there where I love to be...

I so like the term "marmite" - it was used by Steve Kaluski recently under one of his Wildlife posts and to me it was a bit confusing at first but I figured it out eventually. I love "marmite"...Very important to me when I shoot, and even more important when I process an image, is my choice of a feature to which I give prominence. "No image can ever capture the whole" - if I am not mistaken Nietzsche said something along these lines, and he was probably referring to artworks but I really identify with what he has said in terms of my photography, meaning there are certain details of an image so prominent that they come to define the subject or the place, and thus the viewer/observer can no longer think of that particular subject/place without being reminded of a particular image.

Anyway, before I go completely off topic, thank you for your thoughtful comments, I cannot tell you how I appreciate the time you put in to view and to express how you feel about this - very inspiring and encouraging.

Shall look out for your future posts

Warmest regards,

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Gabriela, The image is very sharp, so hand holding did not hurt you. And the d-o-f is OK for me. The heron has the nictitating in place to protect its eye from the fish's fins. The light looks pretty harsh but you were pretty close to right on sun angle. The heron's head is turned ever-so-slightly from you but the nictitating membrane makes the head angle look worse than it actually is. I will, therefore, be right back....

[Arthur Morris]

Reduced contrast plus some Eye Doctor work.... WDYT?

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the peak of action, the fish is a bonus too. A tripod is not needed to make sharp photos, and this one is sharp. the light was quite harsh here. I like Artie's eye doctoring.

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

A super shot, great action, I am afraid don't really understand this quest for a "perfect" image, the original image is sharp where it needs to be and the bird has a nictitating membrane - and it uses it precisely when might be expected and that is what has been captured beautifully. I don't think you could ask for more For me this is really an outstanding image.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Wow, Thank You All for help and feedback

Brilliant work Sir Arthur, in fact super magic, may I describe this "operation" as the work of a super-skilled surgeon? Love it, thank you so much, I was going to be naughty and use the open eye of the same subject to clone it here, if needed. I see clearly I have so much to learn, and it's all very exciting! I really appreciate you taking the time to help.

And thank you Mike, Arash, Jonathan, your praise is humbling and encourages me to post more...I'll be back

Kind regards,

[Fernando Diez]

Very nice shot, Gabriela. Maybe not so good for the fish . I like the composition, and the curve of the neck. The movement of the peak to my taste brings dynamism to the photo. With respect to the eye, the two options I like. The ophthalmologist working is very good too!
Regards, Fernando.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW Gabriela. I am with you in the quest for he perfect image. There are times when a heron is trying to swallow a struggling fish that the nictitating membrane is not covering the eye. You just need to get lucky. Here Gabriela was a bit unlucky. She did everything perfectly....

[Binu John]

Excellent action shot! Perfect timing to capture the peak of action! Love the RP by Artie!

[Gabriela Plesea]

I just wish to thank everyone for your comments and constructive criticism, I thrive on it

My disappointment with this image lies in the fact that the water dripping off the heron's beak created a blur I could not fix. The problem lies not with movement of the beak as such, but with the water running off the beak (which I was unable to freeze, 1/600s was not enough). The eye is an easy fix, here I cloned the eye from the next image in the sequence, after cropping the image to the same size as the one I posted to get the size right. Forgot to mention that this is a huge crop, by the way. Processed this image from the beginning and made some small changes, I hope this is to your liking.

This is for you Arthur, and Sir - I appreciate your RP and thought I'd do one of my own, if only to show you that I have learnt something and applied it - thank you for your help!

Kind regards,

[Dvir Barkay]

Really great shot Gabriela, just saw it as it got the image of the week. Really good one, and I really like the final version. I often find with bird shots that the beak often manages somehow to not be fully sharp and here it can be seen. But overall, its not detrimental to the overall image, and so great job.

All the best, Dvir

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Dvir,

Thank you so much! Really appreciate your kind comments and participation in so many threads, this is wonderful!

The slight blur on the beak is due to water running down, unavoidable I guess...I could perhaps clone beak from another image but these days I avoid this kind of thing...

Looking forward to more images from you,

Have a great week-end!