Simplicity

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Sony A-700~Sony 70-400G~Sony 1.4X~IS0 400~1/2000sec~F8~560mm~Surfside,Texas~4-26-09/overcast
Great Egret breeding colors.
comments and critique welcome. regards~Bill

[Ilija Dukovski]

Great whites, you did very nicely composition wise,
interestingly HA and lack of eye contact does not bother me here,
it takes attention to the imaginary object outside the frame...
Excellent breeding colors, congrats!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good techs, colours, and sharpness. I only wish you had pointed your lens down a bit more. As is I feel the comp would be stronger if you cropped away about half the space above the head. I love the look of concentration on this individual!

[Randy Stout]

Bill:

I think Illija and Daniel hit the hight points. The exposure is very nice with great colors in the bird, and I agree that a bit more space down and to the right, with crop from the top would have been nice.

Thanks for sharing this beauty.

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Bill, pin sharp, with well controlled whites. I like the breeding colours, and agree, a little off the top would work.

[Steve Maxson]

I like the pose with curves of the neck and the bill pointing into the corner. Nice sharpness and exposure. Here is another vote for cropping off the top - about halfway down to the head.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thanks! I'm in agreement with the cropping suggestions. I had come up several aternative cropping ideas as well. However, I do hesitate in deviating from the 4:3 format, for several reasons (including the problems of posting on my own web pages where my self created templates are either vertical or horizontal, of a specific size). This doesn't rule out having less space between the top of the bird and the margin as suggested.
Interesting comment of Llija about the eye contact and the fact that it didn't appear that the bird was looking at the viewer, which he wasn't; he was far more interested in snatching up another fish. Got lots of images of this. As far as looking off at imagery off the screen; although some might like it, I would consider this a problem, and I would try to avoid it. Here it was unavoidable, and due to the visibility of iris and pupil, makes this flaw much more noticeable.
The head angle: a perfect side profile is IMO something I often go for. Not saying the a more tilted toward the viewer has its advantages, but I consider the profile equally valid. Facing away, however, in an image with no other elements to explain this, is defintely out.
regards~Bill

[Ramon M. Casares]

Amazing, great GREAT exposure, nice pose, detail, colors, BG and light, I would suggest to leave more room at the bottom. Congratulations.

[Alfred Forns]

Might be my favorite you have posted William !!! Really like it a lot Big Congrats !!!