D90; 80-400VR @ 240mm. ISO 400. f/7.1, 1/640s. Matrix metering @ -0.3 EV. HH. 81% of original size.
Captured several weeks ago on North Seymour Island, Galapagos. I gather that the birding community is split as to whether this is a separate species endemic to the Galapagos, or a sub-species of the Striated Heron. Very similar to the Green-backed Heron posted by others in the last few days. BG was very distracting here, so I have applied a bit of Gaussian blur and desaturation while trying to maintain some sense of habitat and realism. C&C encouraged and appreciated.
Good job on the blur as it does not look overdone. I like the "perch", quite different for this type of bird! Nice raised foot. Could be my monitor, but the eye's pupil is a bit jagged as posted perhaps due to a bit of oversharpening. Also wish for a better HA.
Thank you Tony and Daniel. I know the HA is less than perfect - almost parallel to the sensor but not quite; he was preoccupied and didn't accede to my request for a slight head turn. I tried not to oversharpen here, but it's possible I hit the eye one click too often. Thanks for looking. I appreciate the comments.
Hi Bill, I am impressed with your excellent work blurring the BG as it looks very natural. Love the raised foot and wish the head were angled just a bit more toward us.
As soon as I looked at the BG I knew you did something even without reading the OP - it was obvious. I would probably have left it without blurring if it were mine, I don't think it's easy to maintain a blended area with the BG so "busy" and make it "believable". Nice try though. :) I would have just as easily accepted BG as was because it shows the habitat. HA is not important in this case I think, looks good and love the raised foot. Congrats! :)