An image of a Green Heron I took this summer near Myrtle Beach SC. The photo was taken on an overcast day, around midafternoon. This adult flew up on an old snag and I managed to find an opening in the bushes and get a couple of pictures of it.
Taken with a Canon 5dIV, 600mm iii, and 1.4 iii teleconverter.
f/ 5.6, 1/500 second, ISO 1,600, exposure compensation +2, at 840mm, handheld, single point af.
Processed in DPP4. Then taken into photoshop for processing. I used Nik for detail extraction (recipe from Birds as Art) and applied no noise reduction. Sharpened with smart sharpening.
Hi Jesse, shots like this I would suggest you change the metering mode and use your Histogram, forget blowing the BKG as there appears not to be any tone there, it's the subject you want to keep open and not dark.
Overall the image looks/appears dark, with a good blue cast. Like Colin I don't know the subject, but when blue starts to appear in other areas other than the plumage then I might selectively reduce the required colour. Not knowing the workflow with DPP you used, but just adjusting the file in LR you begin to see what you originally capture. Be careful using Nik DE & Smart sharpening to avoid over sharp images.
Despite the bright BG, the OP is underexposed and Steve brought that up nicely. I'd also have preferred more room at left. Having said this, good pose and neat perch. Nice details, and going vertical was a good call.
Thanks for the great feedback. I really appreciate the repost. I was having trouble visualizing what I needed to do to and it really helped me see it. I am going to revisit the raw file and see if I can replicate your example.
Green Heron on snag
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