Great Blue Heron

[Joseph Przybyla]

I went to Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County Florida early this morning. Not many birds but I did find a cooperative Great Blue Heron. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm PF + Nikon 1.4 III Teleconverter, camera and lens supported by a Oben carbon fiber monopod with a Wimberly MonoGimbal head
1/4000 F/8 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 1100 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 700mm (1050mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2022 and Topaz Denoise AI
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Randy Stout]

Joe:

A dramatic, unusual pose. Effective composition with soft background.
Well exposed.

If time allowed, perhaps the classic focus part way down the bill to move the DOF sweet spot around a bit more towards you to help with the tip of the bill. I don't however find the slight blurring of the bill to be a deal breaker as is.

The eye is dramatic enough to pull our attention.

Cheers

Randy

[kevin Hice]

Different for sure Joe love the misplaced feathers on the head. Great detail and like the green background. TFS

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Joe ... nice different portrait !!!
The whole bill looks like it has some slight motion blur ... not only the tip . Just my take
Too much blue in the bill and head ... at least for my taste

TFS Andreas

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe ... nice different portrait !!!
The whole bill looks like it has some slight motion blur ... not only the tip . Just my take
Too much blue in the bill and head ... at least for my taste

TFS Andreas

Hi Andreas, thank you for viewing and commenting. Really surprised you see motion blur, the shutter speed was 1/4000 on a basically stationary subject. Regarding the blue maybe I could desaturate the blue a bit, I'll revisit the image.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Joe ... well I might have misinterpreted the sharpness specially in the bill from the base to the tip . So forget my comment about the motion blur .

Cheers Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

Love the eyes, the BKGR, and the top of the bead. D-O-F is seemingly amazing until you consider the distance to the bird with the 1.5X crop factor body and the TC. The poor bird, however, needed a bill tip transplant -- it sure is beaten up pretty good.

with love, artie

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, have you thought about taking it off centre with less to the right and RoT for the eye???

TFS
Steve

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe, have you thought about taking it off centre with less to the right and RoT for the eye???

TFS
Steve

Hi Steve, thank you for viewing and commenting. Here is a edit with the bird moved further right with the eye on the right side thirds line. WDYT?

[Steve Kaluski]

Here is a edit with the bird moved further right with the eye on the right side thirds line. WDYT?

Joe, I think it's more important as you are the author, WDYT, as I just suggested it to you, however is it better, an improvement, or worse. Just throwing in options.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Joe, I think it's more important as you are the author, WDYT, as I just suggested it to you, however is it better, an improvement, or worse. Just throwing in options.

Hi Steve, I like both. I a balance person, if a picture or mirror on the wall is not level I level or want to level it. That's why i chose a more centered location, the image seemed to balance better, at least to me. But the right side placement is more traditional/dramatic, so I'll keep both. Thank you for your suggestion.