Green Heron

[Walker Noe]

Taken in Cottonwood, AZ back in May. D5100 and 300mm f4. No setup or calls, etc. Going for a more environmental portrait.

PP: Slight crop, contrast, +2 Saturation in PSE11.

f/4
300mm
1/640
ISO 400

I hope you like it.

[Jeannean Ryman]

Your image isn't loading for me. I can't see anything but a broken "picture" icon.

[Walker Noe]

Try this:

Watchful Hunter by WalkerAZ, on Flickr

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the habitat, so you've succeeded in that department IMO! What I love best though is the water action, both the various flying water drops and what appears to be running water of the perch and feet. I do feel the image is a bit oversharpened on the subject though, and I would find a way to darken the lower left corner (perhaps a low opacity clone stamp or a combination of that and the burn and sponge tools.). Pretty neat overall!

P.S. I see both images...

[Diane Miller]

I see both, and a very nice shot!! Sharp, good color, and the flying water drops are a bonus item!

Is there a little more canvas on the left? It feels a bit crowded there, but not a big deal. My only suggestions would be to burn down the light area in the lower left and reduce saturation a bit in the upper left.

[Satish Ranadive]

Superb image in nice habitat. Res is mentioned by Daniel Sir.
Love the frame.

Regards,
Satish.

[Walker Noe]

Thanks everyone for your input. Here is a repost.

[Diane Miller]

This made the LL go too gray. If it were me, I'd clone at low opacity. I used about 50% here, selected from several areas and and went over some areas a couple of times. It's all just painting.

[Walker Noe]

Thanks. I need to work on my cloning skills. Usually when I clone without a perfectly smooth background it ends up looking repetitive and unnatural.

[Diane Miller]

This cloning took less than a minute. I used a soft low opacity brush, but not a really small one. And I sampled from several different places. That avoided repeats and gave it a softer look.

Experiment on this image -- it's great practice. That's the only way to get better!