Breeding Black-crowned Night Heron

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED, image captured at 400mm
1/2500 F/7.1 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 280 Auto 1 WB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2019 and Neat Image for noise reduction, removed a couple branches from background
Cropped for composition and presentation

P.S. Learn more about Circle B Bar Reserve in the BAA Middle Florida Photography Site Guide co-authored by Artie and me. It is available on the Birds As Art Online Store.

[Tim Munsey]

Love it, like the splash of yellow and red at either end, well planned.

[Randy Stout]

Joe: Handsome bird, like the diagonals of birds head and perch, exposure, grip on the branch.

Perhaps a bit tight in the frame.

Randy

[John Mack]

Like the framing here. The perch and pose are nice. Red eye stands out well against that blue.

[Dorian Anderson]

Love the razor-sharp yellow foot, but the image falls off from there because that's where the focal point fell. Red eye is nice but year is soft and disinterested gaze makes it hard to connect with the subject. Tight in frame as mentioned.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Love the razor-sharp yellow foot, but the image falls off from there because that's where the focal point fell. Red eye is nice but year is soft and disinterested gaze makes it hard to connect with the subject. Tight in frame as mentioned.

Hi Dorian, thank you for viewing and commenting, much appreciated. Not sure why the feet would appear to be sharper, maybe color and contrast makes them appear that way. Here is a screen capture showing where the active focus point was at the time of image capture. I know the camera is not front or back focusing because I test it often. Also it looks like the leg and foot would be in the same focal plane as the bill. Thanks again, your comments are always appreciated.

[Dorian Anderson]

Hi Dorian, thank you for viewing and commenting, much appreciated. Not sure why the feet would appear to be sharper, maybe color and contrast makes them appear that way. Here is a screen capture showing where the active focus point was at the time of image capture. I know the camera is not front or back focusing because I test it often. Also it looks like the leg and foot would be in the same focal plane as the bill. Thanks again, your comments are always appreciated.

It's good to know the focus point fell on the head, but the face isn't the sharpest part of the image. The result on the screen shows the bird's lower half sharper than the upper; the single white plume, for example, is sharper on the back than on the head. So, you'll need to reconcile the result as shown with your settings/camera. Cheers....

[Arthur Morris]

A difficult situation for sure. I know how tough these are to photograph but this is not your best work :) The AF point needed to be on the eye not the bill. And for starters, when attempting an over-the-shoulder shot, especially with the bird well above you, your primary concern needs to be with d-o-f. And that the bird's head is angled a bit away from you made things even harder. But ISO 280, 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1 were all bad choices. You might have tried something like ISO 800, 1/500 sec at f/pretty small. I am too lazy to do the math :) Even ISO 400 at 1/500 sec would have got you a lot more d-o-f. With an aperture of 13 or 14, I would have tried focusing on the left side of the face ...

with love, artie

[Joseph Przybyla]

A difficult situation for sure. I know how tough these are to photograph but this is not your best work :) The AF point needed to be on the eye not the bill. And for starters, when attempting an over-the-shoulder shot, especially with the bird well above you, your primary concern needs to be with d-o-f. And that the bird's head is angled a bit away from you made things even harder. But ISO 280, 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1 were all bad choices. You might have tried something like ISO 800, 1/500 sec at f/pretty small. I am too lazy to do the math :) Even ISO 400 at 1/500 sec would have got you a lot more d-o-f. With an aperture of 13 or 14, I would have tried focusing on the left side of the face ...

with love, artie

Hey Artie, thanks for explaining what went wrong with the image. A learning experience. I kind of got excited because these birds are not found in the open often. It was high in a tree so I can understand how that affected the depth of field (not parallel to the sensor). As it was I only got a couple of clicks and the bird was gone so I went with the settings in the camera. Try better next time. Thank you for viewing and suggesting ways to make it better, very much appreciated.