I captured this image at the alligator breeding pond rookery in Gatorland, Orlando, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.
Nikon D7000
Nikon 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 VR ED shot at 230mm (345mm FFE)
1/400 F/8 Matrix Metering -1 EV ISO 100 AWB
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped for composition, shadow background darkened to black
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Fantastic light, and great breeding colours. Nice to see some fine details on the whites, and the black background really makes everything "pop". Visually quite a strong image. I'm wondering if you have a bit more room below and right?
This is a beauty Joseph, and detail in the feathers is amazing - those feathers resemble little hairs!
Black BG very dramatic, I like the composition, this is nice and sharp, I pick up a slight green tinge to those feathers on top of the egret's head - easy to remove by selectively reducing the greens in that area.
Love that sharp pointy beak and the eye - great concentration there from your subject, wonderful capture, indeed a strong image - I enjoyed viewing, very much!
Lovely light and excellent IQ.
There is some green fringing on the edge of the head feathers and the feathers on the top appear to be "cut". I wonder if your selection was imperfect when you darkened the BG. These are easy fixes and you can use the "refine edge" tool when you select the BG to avoid the "cut" look.
This a terrific portrait. Well seen and captured!
Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting and suggesting improvements.
Gabriela and Gale... green fringing fixed. As you both wrote, easy fix.
Gail, here is the image with only initial cropping. The top feathers here have the same appearance as if cut or clipped. In Photoshop I only cloned out the leaves and fixed the shadow across the bill of the egret. The darkening of the background I did in Lightroom using the Adjustment Brush, working around the bird I had the Auto Mask box checked. As long as I kept the cursor in the green tones it would only mask them. Working away from the bird I unchecked the Auto Mask box so I could quickly mask the rest of the background to darken it. Not sure why the feathers would look like that but I see what caught your eye.
Thanks again everyone....
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
I initially LOVED the original shot. For my taste, however, you've processed it beyond what I would do myself.
TFS
Hi Akos,
I understand your viewpoint, most times I agree with it. Photographing at the rookery at Gatorland is from a boardwalk. The birds are very close, the background is close to the bird. Very few opportunities present themselves with the separation needed for a smooth background. I have a version with the background natural as shown. I thought the bird and light were beautiful, and wanted to show that without distracting elements. With portraits I allow myself more leeway than a natural history / environment image. Thank you for viewing and commenting, I value your opinion.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Hi Joseph, love the light in the OP, and what excellent detail on the plumage - nice and sharp too. I like the darker BG, and well done on 'fixing' the green fringe. I refer the light in your OP.
Great Egret
Originally Posted by Ákos Lumnitzer
Ákos Lumnitzer thanked for this post
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