Dare I? Post a "not perfect" image? Tri Colored Heron....

[Karen Pleasant]

I was really excited to get this photo of a Tri colored heron landing....however the background was less than perfect! Shot in Landscape but cropped to Portrait. The vegetation to both the left and right was really less than ideal!

Nikon D700 (FX) with 500mm/F4
1/2000 @ f8, ISO 800, -0.5 exp comp

Processed in CS6. Tonal contract in CEP, High Pass sharpening. Slight lens blur of the background.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Karen - Great sharpness and a dynamic pose. Colors look great too. Unfortunately nature often gives us a less than perfect bg but it is what it is. You can tame the highlights and bring out a bit more detail in the whites on the body with a luminosity mask.

TFS,
Rachel

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Karen, lovely Tri-color in it's breeding plumage. Nice detail, colors look good on the bird. The background is what it is, we have all been there. Nice capture, thank you for sharing.

[Ian Wilson]

I don't mind the background and you have done a good job in harsh light. There seems to be some kind of selection tool artifacts around the edges in a few places, for example, bill, legs and wing joints. Regards, Ian.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karen, I love these guys with the different colours of blue and Purple. Excellent feather detail, sharp, and I agree, we have to take where our subjects perch, which is not always ideal. Looks like he's used this perch before, due to the mess on the leaves.

[christopher galeski]

nice image,great pose,good detail,agree with Ian about artifacts.TFS

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image of beautiful heron in habitat. Superb IQ.
Very nice colors with great details.

Regards,
Satish.