Heron coming to land

[Morkel Erasmus]

A black-headed heron attempts to perch for the night as the setting sun casts its light sweetly. This taken at a local pond where there is quite a variety of birds who perch for the night on an island in the middle. I am very happy with the exposure I got since, as previously mentioned, pollution is quite a problem and I shot this at ISO 800

Techs:
f7.1 @ 1/2000 @ ISO 800
EXP +0.3

[Axel Hildebrandt]

The light looks good and I wish we could see the underside of the bird's right wing, too. I'm not sure where the focus is but the bird looks rather soft on my monitor.

[Desmond Chan]

Look soft on my monitor, too. Perhaps also lighten the shadows a tad?

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Axel. I seem to have uploaded a previous version. Here's a sharper one...
I already played with shadows as much as is possible without exaggerating the pollution noise. I can't wait to get to Kruger in 2 weeks for some clean air and different species to photograph :)

[Stu Bowie]

Good placement in the frame Mork, and do like the light in this. Your repost is sharper. Got space for me in your car, and a free bed for Kruger. LOL.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Stu - hehe no sorry my folks have taken your spot ;)