Very good timing and very sharp. Terrific eye contact and the fish between the jaws is a big bonus. The background is very pleasnt and, regarding the composition, I would add more room at the right (if this is a crop, of course) and remove some of the space in the left. Bear in mind that the most interesting part of the image is the heron´s eye, the open beak, and the fish and that all those elements are a bit centered in the upper third of the frame. Very good job and keep them coming ;-)
Last edited by Juan Aragonés; 05-08-2009 at 04:43 AM.
Great action shot - not only does the heron have a fish, but it's airborne. I've never managed to catch more than sticks in a heron's mouth. Good exposure through whites, greys and blacks, and good sharpness. I'm not sure how I'd crop this - agree with Juan about head being most important part of this image, and would consider cropping part of the bottom and left of heron, and perhaps adding a bit top and right. Nice graded background. Only detracting aspect, overall, are the shadows/highlights. Did you play with s/h in Photoshop at all? Dodging/burning may also work to even these out.
This is my first post on this site and I have looked at hundreds of photos here, but this one made me stop. The sharpness, the eye and the mid-air meal do it all for me.
Ditto Juan plus you did an excellent job of controlling the EXP in less than ideal lighting conditions (light from the right rear...)
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