"You Can't See Me"

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

This guy was right in front of us, and we didn't even know it! I found this hard to process,as the colors are tough, and trying to keep them as real as they looked the day i saw this beautiful con-artist! I do not know how to clone yet, so i couldn't remove the straw reeds.
Thks for looking!
Specs:
7D
500mm F4 Lens
700mm
F8
1/1000

[Lance Peters]

Hi Don - I would only remove the one reed that sticks up through the neck, I would also try setting a black and white point via a levels layer in P.S.
Might lighten the eye a tad.
Feels a little tight at the bottom some more room for the virtual feet if you have it.
Keep them coming :)

[Alfred Forns]

Agree with Lance on all counts !!! With that bg need soft light but would take any in the open !! Great find !!

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Agree with comments above (tight at bottom) - nice one.

Maybe work the eye a bit?

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Thks guys, ok let's see... i'll try the clone, and i do have some more room at the bottom. I'm not sure i follow you on the balck and white point.Currently using LR 2.6
Al, if i'm understanding you, seems the light is a bit harsh?? If so i think that's because it was already 1030 plus, so the light was bright for sure, would agree less than ideal conditons.
Is the basic exposure good ???
I'll work on these suggestions... Thks for all of the tips...

[Don Lacy]

Don, Here is my images from that encounter I did not crop it as tight as you and I used PS to tone down the BG and pull some more detail out of the area around the eye. I would not even think about trying to clone out the branch behind the neck that is way beyond my abilities. When I created the image I knew the BG was going to be there and all I wanted to do with it in post was tone it down so it would compliment the Bittern and not compete with it, still this is a image not everyone will like because of the BG.

[Kris Mortensen]

Looks just like the background where I saw one two days ago at Vierra Wetlands. There were 2 of them in a clump of tall grass surrounded by something that looked just like this. Nice shot!