Old Bird Blue Heron

[Bob Smith]

This bird likes to stand on the beach near a pump house outflow as the tide drops and tolerates the proximity of his photographer quite patiently.Comments /critique greatly appreciated. 7D MarkII;EF 100-400f/4.5-5.6 L IS II @300mm.;ISO640;f/7.1;1/1250;PP in Aperture

[Glennie Passier]

Hi Bob, Interesting image. They are such awkward looking birds on the ground. I like his throat plumes. Is it cropped? I find the BG a little distracting. If it were mine, I would consider removing the light coloured foam on top of his head and maybe do some clean up at the bottom corners. Or maybe a smaller crop. You haven't mentioned any PP adjustments. I might have tried for a bigger aperture to soften the BG.

It sounds like he visits the pump house regularly, so maybe another chance.

[Jack Dean III]

I agree with Glennie about the background. Maybe getting closer to the ground to take the shot would have helped with this also.

[Bob Smith]

Thank you fellows, I think you're quite right that if I'd gone down to beach level ( I was above the bird on the seawall dyke this time) and opened up a bit I could perhaps have blurred the background sea-scape. There will be many more opportunities at this site as it is my go to place for brant, ducks, shorebirds, and even eagles sometimes. I think photography is a bit like a QB running a pass play----you've got to get in position (drop back and set up) and then look around for your best option (read your receivers and the coverage), then shoot the best of them, rather than just going with the 1st thing you see. I have to learn to think each shot through thoroughly before I push the button. Often there isn't a lot of time to do that but this subject is pretty tame and gives one plenty of time. This wasn't cropped but in this RP I did bring it down a bit and clean up the spot atop it's head as well as remove a number of annoying little white spots.

[Glennie Passier]

Bob, you have summed this up beautifully. I, like you, will fire off 20 shots before I start thinking. And it's funny, it's only usually the last few frames of the session that are worth PP because I started to look at what's around, in front of, behind. The angle, the light, etc. etc. You are lucky this bird will be there for next time. Maybe take him a little fish??

The image looks better without the white spots. I'm not sure about the crop though.

Looking forward to the next one!

[Diane Miller]

With incoming waves, I try to shoot several to get the waves in different positions and choose the best one later. Better to be concentrating on the focus point while shooting, with the waves in the back of your mind.

I like to go vertical with these guys -- may be a good option with a zoom. But getting low is the best advice!

Hope to see more.