Great Egret

[Joseph Przybyla]

As it is almost time for the rookery at Gatorland to get active I thought I would post one from last year. Great Egret captured at Gatorland in Orlando, Florida. For those not familiar with Gatorland, a photographers pass is offered for sale which allows entrance into the park a couple hours before the general public. Information can be found on their website. 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, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped for composition and presentation

[keith mitchell]

Joe I think you will have difficulty to get better than this, the detail on those white head feathers is superb.

Happy New Year.

Keith.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, very cool, looks like Santa has brought some PS dust for you, as the processing looks really very, very, good and so you know the original was pretty bang on, too. Agree with Keith, superb image, looks like 2016 is certainly off to an excellent start.

TFS
Steve

[Charlene Bacchioni]

Brilliant work Joseph.

[gail bisson]

Superb details in the whites and the lores.
Love the curvy lines in the image.
I wonder if you have a bit more room at the bottom to give the virtual beak some room?
I just love the little feathers that are sticking up on the back.
Pretty impressive DOF for 5.6.
Gail
PS For those who go to Gatorland don't do what I did last year, which was to go on Tuesday. They are closed on Tuesdays ( or at least in February 2015 they were closed on Tuesday.) Double check before you go!

[Karl Egressy]

Although it is a little tight in the frame, excellent image none the less, Joe.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.

Gail, most times I have more room. Thank you for the suggestion. Here is a edit and repost.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, it helps, but in some parts of the whites they look a bit 'hot' so you might like to consider burning in some areas? Adding a Luminosity layer does all bring some more depth back into the plumage IMHO.

[gail bisson]

I definitely like the repost but agree with Steve that the repost brings out more areas that are a bit blown out.
Gail

[Joseph Przybyla]

Steve and Gail, I worked on the areas that appeared hot. A combination of burning and lowering the highlights slightly. Here is a repost with the corrections.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, I'm away and using the laptop, but even so, I feel the RP is very subtle. I think we need to get you onto Luminosity and it's workings, you won't look back .