Great Blue Heron

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 VR AF-S ED shot at 300mm (450mm FFE)
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering 0 EV ISO 450
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10, removed a intruding branch and leaves upper right side
Cropped for composition and presentation

[William Dickson]

Great capture here Joe. Lovely detail on the bird and it stands out well against the BG. Not sure about the branch, would have liked to see more of the intended perch if you have it. I love the feather detail and the expression on the Heron's face.

Will

[keith mitchell]

Agree with Will re the position of the perch Joe, the bird itself looks great, sharp and very well exposed, lovely against that blue Florida sky.

Keith.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, loose the branch and let the space & blue sky work. Watch the dark shadow areas, looking a bit heavy and the eye is draw I feel.

TFS
Steve

[Karl Egressy]

Nice landing pose captured, great for the Theme, Joe.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate you viewing, commenting and suggesting improvements. It seems that all agree the branch was not working, so here is a quick edit and repost. I removed the branch and opened the shadows which on here appeared very dark and blocked. Thanks again....

[gail bisson]

You have received some good advice. I love the light on the near wing but agree with Steve that the shadowed area on the far wing really draws the eye to that area.
Nice and sharp and good pose.
Gail
PS You were posting your repost as I was typing this. Repost looks a lot better.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

What a beauty, Joseph. I too agree with the above advice which you addressed nicely in the repost. Also works just fine without the branch.




Geoffrey

[Joseph Przybyla]

I went back to the original where I had more leeway to make adjustments. Here is the edited image.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

If you have more room, I'd leave the branch to anchor the bird into position. There's the intent of landing
so for me removing the branch takes away, rather than improve, from the shot. If you had more branch,
I'd leave it in and some more room above.
Then again, it's a subjective thing.
Thanks for sharing!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Akos, thank you for viewing and commenting. I do not have more branch. In this repost I moved the branch lower which I think balances the image better and shows the viewer the point of landing.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Joseph, love these type of perching shots, and I would definitely leave the branch in - in its original place. We have a great view of the near wing.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting, and suggesting improvements. Very much appreciated....