Black-crowned Night Heron

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Hi, I am new to this Forum, and this is my first post. My main goal is to be a better bird photographer, and I'm sure this place will be very helpful. This is an uncropped photo of a Black-crowned Night-Heron taken at a flood control reservoir in Houston, Texas. Sony A-700, Tamron 200-500mm at 400mm, ASA 200, 1/1250 sec, f6.3, hand held. I would appreciate any comments and constructive criticism. Mainly constructive criticism. Incidentally most of my photography is of shorebirds and waders on the upper Texas Gulf Coast, at places like Brazoria NWR, Quintana, Texas City Dike, Anahuac,etc.
Oh, did I read you don't want man made objects, etc. in the photo? I guess the buildings in the background are a problem. I won't include such things in future posts.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I guess the buildings in the background are a problem. I won't include such things in future posts.

Here you go, I've moved your post to the "Hand of man" forum - this is where you would post images like this one:)

Composition looks good, and you got great wing positions. I would only level the horizon and give the bird another round of USM. The buildings are OK if you don't mind showing the urban envirinment birds can sometimes be seen in.

Oh, BTW, welcome to BPN!! Looking forward to more:cool:

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Hi, Daniel. I'm unsure if I should level the horizon and then repost the image? Also I'm not sure what USM is. About the urban environment, this is one of my few bird photos that in such a setting. What I thought was interesting about this image is the similarity of background color and subject color palette, a sort of blending of nature and man. Of course this would have the effect of de-emphasizing the subject, perhaps, which I'm not so sure is such a good thing.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Ok, when I first trying posting I had too large a jpeg, which I had already adjusted the horizon on, and instead of resampling that jpeg, which would have compressed the image twice, I went back to the original and forgot that adjustment. Anyway, I straighted the image out, and figured that USM must stand for unsharp mask, so I did that as well.
I guess I should have spent more time looking at other posts, and examined this forum more closely before I jumped in feet first. Perhaps I should have started with Eager To Learn Image Critques.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi Bill, yes USM satnds for Unsharp Mask. You will learn alot in both Eager to Learn and the other forums - feel free to post where you feel comfortable:) I know you've done it on your unposted version but here is a repost where I've levelled the horizon, brightened the face/eye area, and applied a round of USM (you could apply even more, but you get the drift...)

P.S. posting a reworked version of the same image is permitted since it is for educational purposes, therefore yes you could have submitted a repost.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thanks alot Daniel. I see what you mean about the USM. Are you using a paintbrush tool (set to lighten and maybe a soft edge) to brighten the face/eye area?

[Lana Hays]

Welcome, Bill
I like images that show habitat.....even if it is buildings.....that's where they live. Nice job getting the Night Heron in flight. Daniel has done a nice job with the repost and explaining several things. The Eager to Learn forum is a great place to get specifics on techniques but you will also learn from the other forums as well.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Bill, in this case to lighten the eye/face I used the dodge tool. Selected a brush size about the size of the eye, set the opacity to 8% and painted away.

[Grady Weed]

Welcome to BPN. You will love it here. Best site there is for learning.