Agami Heron

[Moe Richard]

This is an Agami Heron. I believe it is a threatened species and fairly rare for Costa Rica. It was in a very small and very dark jungle pond with no water level access. Because it is so skittish, no flash allowed or recommended. This clearly created some very difficult shooting conditions along with all the organic material floating in the water. I did clone out some of the distracting organic material floating in the back and left the mostly in focus material in the foreground. I'm never sure how much to eliminate. I wanted to portray its natural environment yet have some level of appropriate composition.

Iso 12,800, 100-400 mm at 400 mm, F5 .6, 200th, no flash, handheld, 75% of full frame, Sony A7R3, ACR, DxO photolab 2, Topaz AI clear

[David Roach]

Congrats on getting this rare beauty. The light seems challenging and you did as good as you could. Love the colors and the subtle reflection. As far as the debris, it does look messy but it helps to set a sense of place with all that jungle detritus. TFS

[dankearl]

Iso12500 acceptable for a record shot like this.
Nice work getting this, pretty cool bird.

[John Mack]

Always nice to see and photograph a rare bird. Like the pose on the bird. This is better than coming back with nothing.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Pretty cool, and I like the curled leaves at left. The debris is what it is - when there is so much to remove it actually looks better left intact or else risk showing some evidence of clean up. Looks like the image could use a bit of CW rotation, and perhaps a bit less canvas above (or more below). I love the mood to the image, I really do feel like I am in a dark jungle!