Grey Heron, ((Ardea cinerea)

[Bill Nuttall]

just joined as a Member after a year of viewing the marvellous images on here ....... and posting about a year ago as a participant



Nikon D750
Nikon 300 f4 PF + Nikon 2,0TC
Hand held
1/1000 sec - f8 - ISO1600
cropped and processed in LR
Tokyo Bay

I have been taking bird images for about 3 years now and would like to improve so I would be grateful of your advice

a little soft??

but I quite like this "creamy" effect as it went with the dirty, sometimes oily, waters of Tokyo Bay ..... the bird blending with it's bg

[Randy Stout]

BILL:

Thanks for joining. Looks like you will have opportunities in many parts of the world to photograph, so should be interesting to see what you come up with.

I like the leg up pose, and indeed the water does look very 'smooth'.

In general, a head angled towards us is more engaging, unless the object of his attention demands (and is visible or at least imaged) by the viewer.

I would go for a bit more sharpening on the bird, as you mentioned.

Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

[Mike Poole]

Hi Bill, good to see you over on this site - the critique level alone is worth the subscription.

Randy has given the same advice I would have in that I like the walking pose but it's a shame the head isn't angled towards us more.

Mike

[William Dickson]

Welcome back Bill. I also agree with Randys advice. I do like the 'painterly' look

Will

[Bill Nuttall]

Welcome back Bill. I also agree with Randys advice. I do like the 'painterly' look

Will

Thanks Will

I did not realise that with shots like the Grey Heron, that is generally preferred that the subject should be looking (a little) towards the camera unless there is something in shot that it is looking at - I need to grab back all the images that I have "binned"

I liked the image I posted because it reflected the day, the light and the condition of the water in a backwater area behind Tokyo Bay, - pollution? and the shoreline, Yatsu-higata (Yatsu Tidal Wetland) was black, but I saw a number of different species all "enjoying" the environment.

The water had a semi sheen on it, this was the condition of the water

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi Bill, thank you for the membership support!

Well exposed, and I too like the quality of the water you got here. Normally I prefer lower angles, but I think the higher perspective here works well. Yes to the head angle - if you have time to spare, here is a great educational thread about that:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...le-Fine-Points

[Bill Nuttall]

Hi Bill, thank you for the membership support!

Well exposed, and I too like the quality of the water you got here. Normally I prefer lower angles, but I think the higher perspective here works well. Yes to the head angle - if you have time to spare, here is a great educational thread about that:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...le-Fine-Points

Thanks Daniel

a very useful thread and I do see the various considerations re HA - I suppose that my opinion with Herons, Egrets and the like is that I always feel that the bird is staking and looking for prey and I like to see the concentration in their body and eye.

Lower angles - again I do appreciate this comment and I do find that the low down POV can look very dynamic and appealing - my only problem is, that at my age, once I got down low it would take me some time to get back up