Earlier this year I saw this Green Heron fly and land on the stalk of Fire Flag. There was a small opening surrounded by the large leaves of the plant. I had to crouch down finding the exact line that would isolate the bird against the distant vegetation. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.
Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/1600 F/5.6 Matrix Metering 0 EV ISO 500
Cropped for composition, slight cleaning up of a portion of a leaf, removed a second stalk near the feet of the bird
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Nice one Joe. I love how you have shown how the bird can balance on such a thin perch. Great HA and pose. BG ? could u have asked for better, it fits perfect. Maybe tone the perch down a wee bit? Good work and thanks for sharing
Hi Randy, thank you for viewing, commenting and lending another set of eyes. The harsh light on a bright day is something that seems always there in Florida (pray for a bright overcast day). I re-visited the image and reposted. Not opening the shadows more was an oversight. Thanks again.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Nice one Joe. I love how you have shown how the bird can balance on such a thin perch. Great HA and pose. BG ? could u have asked for better, it fits perfect. Maybe tone the perch down a wee bit? Good work and thanks for sharing
Hi Bill, thanks for viewing, commenting and offering a suggestion. I edited the image and reposted, maybe the perch is still too bright. I will look at it again. Thanks again.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
A nice simple pose and comp. IMO a little crunchy/oversharpened. Selectively taking down the contrast, and the saturation a bit in the yellow channel would help with the perch.
I like how he is hanging to the perch. lovely BG and a nice perch too. Repost is better in terms of contrast but the details are a bit lacking, especially the crown has a paintary look. could be a result of over-sharpening.
Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting and offering suggestions to improve the image. I shall revisit the original using your suggestions as a guide. Thank again.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
The repost is better. Good comments from the gang.
Here is one more tweak to consider. Overall images still reads a bit bright for me, so ran a luminosity blend mode at 18%, to tone down the highlights. For me it balances the brightness of the background vs. the bird a bit better, and tones down some of the highlights on the bird as well. Just an option.
Beautiful shot of this species and I like the green BG and the perch. Randy's repost is about perfect. Needed a highlight reduction and the addition of some blacks. Very nice
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