Great Blue Heron Portrait

[Bill McDonald]

Taken a couple of days ago near Hamilton Botanical Gardens. I liked the effect of the Heron against the light. What do you think?
Canon 5D3
Canon F4 500 Mk2
ISO 100
f4.0
1/500
Small amount of post processing in Lightroom - shadow boost +25, Clarity +14 and Vib +25
debated taking out the OOF reeds in the BG, but decided they somehow add to the image

[gail bisson]

Hi Bill,
The backlighting is nice and you have brought out the details nicely in the heron.
If this was mine I would clone out the green reed intersecting the bill and sharpen the eye a bit.
I am looking at your techs and would never shoot at ISO 100 ( for birds). I would be at ISO 400 and increase the DOF for a close portrait like this. Can you tell me what your thought process was for this image?
Gail

[Satish Ranadive]

Superb close up against light with nice details. Rest has been mentioned by Gail.

Regards,
Satish.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The raised head feathers have made the back lighting work well here. Good composition that feels well balanced. The green reed Gail mentions could be also desaturated rather then eliminated (say to about the same as the one touching the below neck). The rest of the background is quite appealing. I do feel the heron's head is angled ever so slightly away from us, so for that reason I'f have preferred it angled a bit more toward us.

[Bill McDonald]

Thanks for the comments and feedback .. and after studying the shot from your perspectives and I'm more inclined to agree that, although the reeds being (in my mind anyways) a somewhat positive feature of the image, they are generally too rich and need to be toned down, and blended more neutral to the BG closer to the neck.
Gail .. I'm not sure there was a particular image in mind as I took the shot, other than a back lit image might be interesting. I was aware that care was needed to get the exposure just right. The original image was almost full frame of the GBH, but was cropped and frame balanced to suit the neck & head. Oddly, I think that this was one of the very very few times I have dropped ISO to 100 (the logic was that lower the ISO the more detail I'm likely to see), but I see your point.
Bill

[Diane Miller]

Very interesting shot -- I love your crop, and agree that I'd tone down the saturation on the reeds somewhat -- just a little may be enough. I would mind them less if they didn't end behind the bird.

I've been shooting with the 5D3 since it came out and I don't notice any degradation of detail until I get to ISO 1600. Keeping the ISO low costs in terms of shallower DOF and less sharpness from any motion blur. It's a frustrating balance.