I took this picture last week and had not planned to post it -- Great Blue Herons are pretty common here, pose is not unusual, etc. But then I decided to offer it "as is" to see what PP others might recommend. The image has been sharpened only. I'll be curious to learn what you would do to make the image more "presentable." Suggestions, please!
if this is straight out of the camera, it aint bad!! nice light, nice exposure. i'd clean up the water a bit and give it a slight crop off the top and left. i could wish for a lower capture angle, but i wont say anything about the head angle. he's in action, hunting. nice job.
HI Wendall...I liked the composition right away although i can agree that a crop off the top would emphasize the eye more. I also agree with all techs noted above esp white and black point
Hi Wendell,
I like the capture right out of the camera..well done...agree with the techs. and advise given...I would have like to have seen a lower capture angle, but at times its not possible...good show my friend, I like it...looking forward to your next one...:cool:
Most comments/suggestions, not surprisingly, had a common thread:
clean up the water
crop top and left
lower capture angle
set black and white points
bring out the eye
Thanks everyone! I've now implemented all these (except lower capture angle, which was unfortunately impossible in this instance), and I now have a better image, as well as having learned how others would approach an out-of-camera image such as this one.
As for ISO settings, Jeff, it has been suggested previously that I jack them up a notch (I did always use 200), and I have found that I like the higher settings very much. For one thing it helps make me "always ready" for bird-in-flight and rapid movement opportunities, which are a frequent interest of mine, and noise problems can be addressed in post processing. By the way, I very seldom use manual settings; I leave that to more experienced photographers than myself.
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