Snowy Egret in Morning Light
Canon 7D2, 100-400 II at 220mm, ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/3200 sec, handheld. Shot this morning at out local rookery. Early morning light filtered through light fog in the distance. Not the normal light angle but I liked it for being somewhat unique.
Basic LR5 processing to bring up shadows and add Vibrance, then into PS for removal of a blue cast of the bird's back, with masked Hue-Sat and a very slight brush of more light on the face.
A nice 'pure, clean' shot Daine! Well done! The twig adds just a little more of interest and the early morning light worked well to keep some detail here!
Nice image Dianne. The nesting material as said before adds to the image. The soft light of early morning softened the shadows. Thank you for sharing.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
www.amazinglight.smugmug.com
You used the light to your advantage to create a lovlely image. The carrying of the twig adds much interest. I would add a touch of black to the legs and bill.
The translucence of the flight feathers is what makes the image! I also like the line of light following the edge of the neck. Nicely done.
Hi Diane, I like the flight angle returning to its nest with nesting material. Good downstroke of both wings, which in turn shows the light through the near wing nicely. Overall, well exposed too.
I like the translucent feathers on the wings and the backlit lower edge of the neck. I agree on adding black to the bill and legs. Nice image!
Very nice Diane! Great subject, exposure, composition and light. The carried nesting materials add even more interest to this excellent photo.
Thanks everyone! Good suggestion on the blacks -- I used a Curve to move the black points straight in on the separate channels, which gave a little more punch to the image. One channel was a little more off than the others (the worst was off by 10 points, the others by 5, if I recall) and equalizing all gave a slight overall color correction as well.
I didn't mention in the OP that this is about a 50% crop -- pushing the limitations of the 7D2 and the 100-400 II at ISO 800. The body and lens combination is very enjoyable and the zoom capability is great for birds in flight, but not quite top-of-the-line for digging out information.
I was in M mode with exposure set for the whites of egrets in full sun, and when I saw this guy out of the corner of my eye head over my head toward the sun, I only had time to get him in the frame and start shooting in burst mode. I've gotten some interesting backlit images that way before so just went for it -- no time to move the shutter speed or aperture dials. Just for interest, here's the original uncorrected frame.
Several in the burst were pleasing "poses" and I may post a couple more.
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