Good morning, sunshine...

[David Roach]

EOS R6 RF 100-500 @500 f7.1 1/400 ISO 3200 HH, Manual EXP, cropped from horizontal

Created just a couple minutes from sunrise.

Thanks for all valued inputs on previous posts. Please, keep them coming.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Herons have go to be the most whimsical "down-the-barrel" subjects! Perfect focus on the eye. Was it AEF? I'm left wondering what an in-camera vertical would have looked like, but super fun image that grabs the attention.

[gail bisson]

I am trying to like this but the OOF bill really catches my eye.
I am not leaving this crop. Can you try a vertical?
Gail

[David Roach]

Herons have go to be the most whimsical "down-the-barrel" subjects! Perfect focus on the eye. Was it AEF? I'm left wondering what an in-camera vertical would have looked like, but super fun image that grabs the attention.

Hi Daniel and Gail,
Yes, even though I have a back button for AEF and one for single point, I'm still testing limits of AEF alone. This was part of continuous sequence which began with the bill more parallel to the sensor. The beginning of the sequence was actually posted as well earlier. I just stayed on this beauty to see if the eye would be good through the head rotation. When sequence started, it was smack on the one visible eye. In DPP it shows focus point(s). In this one it showed a focus area grid with three active points; both eyes and right lore. Pretty interesting. The amazing thing is it is fast, and yes at times it will grab anything that resembles an eye. Like the base of the bill on the grackle I posted. Still quite amazing and functional tech. Yes, Gail, I fully understand and certainly respect your point of view on the DOF. Thanks to you both for your very valued inputs.

[Dorian Anderson]

****, that's a pretty dramatic image! The stare is great, and the layered feathers are super pretty. I might rotate the image CW a degree or two; that would level the eyes and make the neck perfectly vertical. Image also looks a bit yellow to
my eye, but wait for a second opinion before you do anything on that front.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very Cool. I would clone out the red spot on the right side of the frame and with the green colors..
Yes I would crop this vertically as well.

Focus is spot on where it needs to be.

TFS

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi David, a different pose of a Tri-colored Heron. The focus appears to have been smack dab on the eyes. The layering of the feathers on the chest are nicely shown. You must have been close because the depth of field falls off quickly. The only way I know of to get the bill sharp of these head on long billed birds is to move back so the depth of field is larger. Nice background. Thank you for sharing.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi David ... I like it !!
Just the crop does look a bit `odd`.... I might go tighter , for more impact .

Colors well .... I know your issue , get your grips on color correction by numbers . I think the WB is slightly off .

TFS Andreas

[Brian Sump]

David, this is a fun, up close look. The intimacy felt in the frame is awesome!

So there are many good aspects such as the overall composition and the detail across the focal plane.

There are also are some good comments above and for me, I too wish to either a) have more of the beak in focus or b) have it perfectly dead square head on so there is just a narrow circle of oof beak. I'd be tempted to rotate the image as well.

TFS!

[John Mack]

My first thought was a vertical. But this is quite nice as well. The background is bang on. The down the barrrel stare is very nice.