Great egret

[Jim Caldwell]

Great egret captured off Turner Loop road in the western everglades. Clouds obscured the sun for a few moments and I toned down the background a little bit in Photoshop - I'm wondering if there is now too much contrast? Comments are most welcome!

Canon 1d MK II n, Canon 500mm f/4.0, ISO 400, f/4.5 @ 1/400 sec, exposure set manually.

[Rene Quenneville]

Very nice! To me, the exposure is perfect and I like the dark background. You could even clone out the lighter spots over the beak, making the BG less busy.

[Maxis Gamez]

Hi Jim,

This image tells a lot about the Everglades and how hard is to get a clean BG. The dark BG does not bother me at all but the little piece of tree behind the tail is bothering the heck out of me, I want to clone it out!! :)

[Ed Cordes]

I like the unusual perch. The stepping out pose is also good. Branch behind the tail should go.

[Jim Caldwell]

Thanks all! Darn it, I was about to clone out that branch, got interrupted and forgot to do it!!! My bad!