Great Egret

[Paul McAdams]

Hi all ... I am new to BPN and bird photography. This is a photograph from the Venice rookery. I would very much appreciate critiques, what I did wrong, what I can do to make it better, etc. TIA

This was a Great Egret that flew past with some reinforcement for a nest.

Camera EOS 20D
Lens 100-400 mm
Format Canon RAW
Color Space sRGB
Aperture f/5.6
Shutter 1/500
ISO 100

[Stu Bowie]

Welcome to BPN Paul. We all learn from each other, and the top guys will give you loads of advice. I feel the whites are a bit hot, and although these guys are difficult to expose at the best of times - with practice, you will work out what settings to use on your camera. I would also run a NR on the BG too. I would liked to have seen all your setting. Keep them coming Paul.

[Paul McAdams]

Thanks Stuart. I really appreciate the comments. I just added the original exif from the RAW to the original post. My typical workflow is nothing more than adding a small amount of S-curve to give it a little color/light boost and then a bit of unsharp mask. I did add a little right edge to this one because he was so far right in the frame I almost clipped his feet. Other than that, it's as shot.

[Brian Wong]

Welcome Paul!

Isn't it fun to get flight images! You have a very nice background, so your subject comes right out. I would probably try a faster shutter speed ... to help increase my chances of many sharp images to choose from. It is too bad the stick merges so close to the eye, but it is a nice touch. If the bird is flying slightly toward you, it would be a much stronger image. Keep them coming!

[Doug Brown]

Welcome to BPN Paul! I like the white of the bird against the dark green BG. Wing position would be stronger either full up or full down. I try to get the birds as they are flying towards me, but that takes a little practice. For flight I never shoot ISO 100; I stick to the ISO 400-800 range most of the time. That way I get the faster shutter speeds I need for good flight images (think faster than 1/800). As far as exposure goes, when photographing a white bird against a dark BG, I usually dial in a little negative EC. Thanks for sharing!