Great Blue Heron in the Wind

[Kurt Bowman]

Captured this morning at a local spot. The wind was blowing hard, overcast day (can't seem to find any sun....kind of stinks, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny)

7D
70-200mm f/2.8
1.4 tc
1/640 at f/5.6
ISO 500

[Randy Stout]

Kurt:

Very interesting picture. I haven't seen GBH and snow very often in the same frame.

How long do they hang around your area in the winter?

A challenging exposure, helped by the overcast. A touch of fill flash would have helped with the bird.

You might be able to bring up his eye a bit in post, and possibly retrieve a bit more detail in the snow.

Cheers

Randy

[Randy Stout]

Kurt:

I had a minute to make a few adjustments to your image, along the lines I mentioned above.

1) Curves adjustment to whites and grey areas to bring up more detail in snow and lighten bird
2) A bit of lighting of the iris. It was interesting, that the iris was quite uneven in coloration, and it came up quite unevenly. You could do better in the raw file I suspect.

Just an option for you to consider.

Cheers

Randy

[Kurt Bowman]

Thanks Randy. I ALWAYS appreciate any suggestions....especially processing. I have only been doing this for 2 years and have a lot to learn still, so thank you!

[David Fletcher]

Lovely shot Kurt and Randy's repost takes it to new levels.

[Luis Villablanca]

I like the bird pose with the hanging feathers in front and head angle.
I agree that a fill flash would have helped with the exposure.

[Don Madej]

I like the low angle and the ruffled look. There is a great blue heron at the morton arboretum, about twenty miles west of chicago,that never leaves. In the winter,it can always be found in the little open water that is available. I am amazed that it can withstand the winter temperatures in chicago.