Heron

[Daniel Belasco]

Tricolored Heron

canon 40d 100-400mm f5.6@ 210mm f5.6 1/640 sec iso 400

[arash_hazeghi]

You got some beautiful warm colors here. Soft reflections are a plus, however HA and general angle are major issues. The veggies are crowding the space between the bird and water making it bit busy and distracting. Next time try to get low such that your lens is not pointing downward and try to get some eye contact with the heron.
Thanks for posting.

[Matt Vosniak]

I really like the colors in your shot Daniel. A little more eye contact would have made this a real winner IMO.

[Harshad Barve]

Lovely colors Daniel , liked expo and sharpness , Better HA was the wish
TFS

[Ramon M. Casares]

I agree 100% with Arash suggestions here. Head angle gave you a poor eye contact and you were preety high, do you have the chance to go back and shoot from a lower angle?

[Graham Smith.]

Nice shot Daniel,
the reflected colours in the water are quite stunning. I agree that a lower angle might have been nice provided the shoreline doesn't begin to interfere with your BG. I'm not so sure about the HA suggestions though - I don't think you could get a better head angle without completely changing the pose of the bird, which is what I find most compelling in this image.

[Daniel Belasco]

Hi Arash
Thanks for your suggestions.
This was taken from a car about 3 feet high. The heron was slightly lower as the bank of the pond was about 1 foot. If you look at my fl of 210mm you can see I was close, so the the downward angle is steeper than I like. I can't get out of the car because birds are really afraid of humans here in the Bahamas.
I take a lot of images and I liked this one posted best near the green grass leaves.
Here is one with a better head angle that may be more to your style?

[Daniel Belasco]

Hi Ramon
Thanks again for taking the time the comment and help me with poses.
The below image may also appeal to Arash as he wanted less vegatation.
Yes I took quite a few poses the evening of Sept 30, 2009--about 385. I have most with spread wings as I was trying to getting interesting shots with the wings spread. The heron had already finished his fishing hike of half the pond when I got there. I get very few evenings when the light is like this and I try to get as many shots as possible. It's getting darker earlier and I'll have to get to the pond earlier. I never heard anyone mention this but I like the colors of the fall/winter light better, especially in the evenings. The color temperature of the light is definately different in the winter near sunset than the summer near sunset. I took my 100-400 this time so I wouldn't clip the wings when the heron got closer.