Great Egret... White on Black

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at the rookery at the alligator breeding pond in Gatorland, Orlando, Florida. The background is dark shadows that were easily turned black in post processing. 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 300mm (450mm FFE)
1/1000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering - 1/3 EV ISO 160 AWB
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped for composition

P.S. Would a moderator please add Theme to the title of this image, my oversight when posting. Thank you.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the feather detail, dark BG and sharpness. Nice image Joe.

[Karl Egressy]

It looks like a well exposed image for the white. Nice preening pose, maybe a little tight.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

If you have room for the rest of the bill I'd LOVE to see that. These kinds of shots make for awesome vertical compositions IMO.
It's got tons of detail (love the breeding colours and detail). Just wow!
Very nicely done!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.

Akos, most times I have different versions and crops using Lightroom's Virtual Copy. Here is a version that allows room for the virtual bill, not showing but not cutting it off.

[Lorant Voros]

I like the repost a lot more. Beautiful work, well exposed, super detail and great black BG that make the bird pop even more. Awesome!

[Daniel Cadieux]

The repost is much stronger compositionally - the whites on the shoulder just need to be toned down. The colours do look more vivid on the OP though - if you can combine those elements into one image that would be the best bet IMO.

Added the "theme" prefix as requested

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Agreed with Daniel. That's what I was talking about earlier. Excellent RP mate! That rocks!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your viewing, commenting and offering suggestions for improvement.