Great Blue Heron

[Ross Taylor]

I captured this shot in a park at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.


Light and background were a challenge. I compromised my vantage point to get the pond in the background, and have side light.


I compromised my desire to be at eye-level, to not have the back edge of the pond intersecting the birds head, or in the frame.


Camera was Canon EOS 7D mkII, Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM. f/5.6, 1/500s, ISO 125, 248mm. Shot RAW and Processed in Lightroom.


Cropped to about 60% frame width for composition. Cropped tighter than typical to show less grass on the bottom, and reduce the effect of looking down on the bird by having the head higher in the frame. Next time, I hope to be proficient with moving my autofocus point away from the center so I will not have to crop as much. I horizontally flipped the image because the right-facing bird seemed better in this case.


Cloned out a couple of weeds from the water. Reduced saturation in the yellow flowers, Increased saturation in the eye and lower bill. Scaled back the sheen on the upper bill.


Applied noise reduction to background, and a very subtle dark vignette in the corners.


Critiques very much welcomed and appreciated - Thanks for having a look!


Ross

[Geoff Newhouse]

Good work with the harsh light. I like the composition and great details in the subject.

TFS
Geoff

[gail bisson]

Nice, solid image of the GBH.
Good field technique- so important for photogs to assess situation and move sideways and/or up and down to see what you have in the viewfinder.!
I wouldn't mind a bit more room on the left and bottom. The yellow flowers are very nice and add a nice pop of color.
TFS,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey there Ross, what I love most here is how you paid attention to the BG (as Gail mentions). It does not take much to introduce unwanted elements in the frame, and the same can be said about excluding them! We all love immaculate individuals but I think the dishevelled look actually adds to this fella's character :-) I too would have liked a bit looser crop but who can resist getting closer to tame GBHs!

[Sandy Witvoet]

Hi Ross, we have several of these youngsters around the lake here right now. As they are not in breeding plumage, they always appear a bit "ratty"... you captured the look perfectly. Great position. Also, when they tuck their head in like that, gives you yet another challenge...shadows and highlights work very well here.

[Ross Taylor]

Thank you so much for your encouragement, comments and help Geoff, Gail, Daniel, and Sandy :)