Cattle Egret

[Dave Barnes]

Was out at the university pond with Stu and a few other of the local avian paparazzi last Sunday.
The summer breading birds are just starting to return and they provide good practice.

Camera Model Name Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
ISO Speed 800
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/2500
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation +2/

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

Lovely light, nicely exposed, classic cattle egret pose, like the slight head tilt. Sharp.

I might add a bit of canvas to the left, and a sliver below. I know he is climbing, but I think the proportions will be nice with that mix of cropping changes.

Nice to have friends to shoot with.

Randy

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Great light! Like the angle of flight, exposure of whites & BG. Great image Dave!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the sharpness, eye contact and wing position. The crop works for me. I would use a different blurring technique for the BG, there are some artifacts.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Man, the egret is nice and sharp. Great eye detail too. I would likely smooth out the dark bar below the far wing. In PS try completely destaurating the blue and cyan channels - you may like the result (I tried it and loved it).

[Arthur Morris]

No need to practice. This one is pretty much perfect. Only a bit of bill cleanup would improve it (that if it fits with your personal ethics). Love the near-undewing detail. EXP perfect.

[Chris Kotze]

Sharp, excellent exposure and light.

[Stu Bowie]

Excellent exposure Dave, and this is really sharp. I like the detail from the near underwing, and he certainly pops from the BG. I would maybe move him back to the right a tad.

[David Fletcher]

Like as presented Dave. Nailed this big time! Well done.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks to all for looking and for comments.
Axel I did not blur the BG only ran a NR. BG is as captured, artifacts could only be from size reduction/jpeg conversion.
Daniel I looked at desaturating the blue and cyan channels and I must agree it looks better. I also agree the smoothing out the dark bar below the far wing.
Arthur I wondered about cleaning up the bill when I was busy with PP but thought I would leave the feather. It will look cleaner with it gone.
Thanks for all the proactive comments, I do take note and they all help to improve my skills.

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

Nice and sharp and great exposure. The white egret against the colourful BG makes this very pleasing to the eye. Great capture, congrats.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Dr. Appreciated.