This is one of the very few in focus images I captured of the Snowy Egrets as they made their way from mangrove cover into the open and good light at Ding Darling. I had been significantly overexposing many of the shots (at -.7) until I heard Artie comment to his troop that they should be shooting in excess of -2 EB and closer to it if green could be seen reflected in the water. There was a significant white reflection in the water just to the right of the Snowy's lore and upper bill that I attempted to remove. My usual adjustments made while using noise reduction here which I just recently learned about. Lightened the blue highlights further.
Hi Bob, I like this. I find the pose and the splash to be pleasing. I would suggest removing or toning down the bright highlights in the background. I also believe there is a color cast as the image seem a little cold to me. I took your image into photoshop and adjusted the colors using a curve layer and setting the middle eye-dropper by selecting the top of the birds head. This certainly changes the appearance. I'll leave it up to if if it is an improvement or not as you were there and I was not. One last things. the detail in the bird's feathers seems to lacking. Did you apply noise reduction to the whole image including the bird? If so you might want to try and reprocess the image and apply the noise reduction just to the water and background. Thanks for sharing.
Having just gotten back from Florida and lots of snowy egret shots, I think the original is a bit cool, but not very much. I would consider warming it up, just a smidge.
The side lighting is dramatic, as is the action with splashes and wing position.
Snowy Egret at Ding Darling
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