Great Egrets

[WIlliam Maroldo]

SonyA700~Sony70-400G@330mm~ISO640~F8~1/1000sec~manual exposure~8-26-2009~Brays Bayou, Houston, Texas
CS4/Topaz Adjust3(small detail preset)/Topaz Clean2
My last image showed a great egret "displaying" to another one off camera. Here are the two together. The posture these birds assume is this: the head and neck is in an upward position, the lower neck feathers are raised, and the wings spread. This can be clearly seen in the left hand bird. This behavior only lasts seconds, then one(the left hand bird in this case), goes after the other. There is rarely actually physical contact. The banking and turning of one bird chasing the other in flight is extraordinary, and extremely difficult to photograph, since the birds are quite large and getting both in focus a serious problem.
comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

[denise ippolito]

Hi Bill, I like the poses w/ the full wings displayed. The environment adds to this nice behavior shot. I like the placement of the 2 birds-but feel the little one on the edge is a bit busy and takes away from the two of them. As presented I might take a small slice off the bottom and crop the bird out on the right. Very nice use of the filters and a wonderful behavior image!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Bill, Agree with Denise's comments. The small bird on the right is pulling ones eye away from the 2 birds which are your center of interest. Good effects!

[Cindy Cone]

Great behavior captured, Bill. Very nice effects, especially with the foliage. I agree about the bird on the right.

[Indranil Sircar]

Nice effect, Bill. I like the color and the texture. Another vote for removing the small bird on the right.

[Christopher Miller]

Great poses on the birds, Bill! I like the included environment, though I might tone down the topaz effect on the BG and water because I find all the detail a little distracting. Good job!

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thank you Denise, Dave, Cindy, Indranil, Christopher, for the observations. Although I considered the snowy egret to be a compositional counterbalance, I see that the overwhelming opinion is to evict the critter. No problem! regards~Bill

[Cheryl Slechta]

Bill, an amazing behavior shot! I agree about the eviction and think I would like a little less Topaz on the bg but
I love the effect on the water. Either way it's a really nice image:)

[Patti Edens]

Awesome capture of this behavior. I like the almost duotone of white and green.