Egret Takeoff

[Bob Miller]

I have been working on birds in flight and rarely have I been able to get a a good full frame image (or almost)of a bird in flight.Don't know whether this is a keeper....I know the bg is busy.. how is the wing position? All comments welcome! Suggestions much appreciated!
Nikon D-300
1/1600 sec at f6.3
ISO 800
500 mm f4

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Bob,

I like the habitat, might sharpen body and try to expose more fine feather detail.
Whites seen in check - TFS - well done.

BIF photography is an art, you are on the right Track. There is a thread in the Tutorial & Education Forum worth reading IMO.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Bob - Looking good - good HA and flight position (before he has past you).
Exposure looks good - agree with Jeff on the sharpening.
I use Genuine fRactals with Noels Carboni's actions - really like the sharpening with Max texture actions.
Good show :)

[Dave Mills]

Hi Bob, I agree you did a good job on this.Nice wing position and placement within the frame. Agree with above regarding sharpening and the non distracting habitat backround.

[Nick Palmieri]

Nice job on this one Bob. Not bothered too much by the BG. I think the main subject is strong and makes the habitat much less distracting.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Think the wing position is OK and the white really stands out. I might give the bird a little more sharpening.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Certainly a keeper! Wing position and sort of a slight backward glance nice. It looks like you have some soft light, which is good, and considering that detail looks pretty good. This sort of lighting does cut down on those crisp sharp details that you see in harsh (high contrast) light, and sharpening may not do much other than create artifacts. Worth a try though.
The background; busy generally means chaotic to me, and any sort of order helps. You could have a bunch of vegetation that is mostly vertical for example and there is some sort of order, and it is not chaotic. Close to this here, but not quite. It would be pretty easy to select the bird and apply a gaussein blur to the background. regards~Bill

[Bob Miller]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions!