Yellow-Crowned Night Heron/ Crawfish

[WIlliam Maroldo]

SonyA700~Sony70-400G@400mm~ISO1000~F5.6~1/2000 sec~manual exposure~Hand Held~6-6-2010~Brazos Bend State Park, Texas~CS4/Redfield Fractalius
Back to my usual stuff. Here you might comment on head angle, and I will tell you up front I disagree in this case. The nictating membrane is usually closed during swallowing to protect the eye. . Here, partially visible seems quite a bit better than completely visible, and to replace with an eye from another image (for esthetic reasons) wasn't warranted IMO.
Comments and critique welcomed, regards~Bill

[denise ippolito]

Bill, I agree w/ you regarding the eye. It looks great to me. The head angle-well it wwould have been nice if it were facing you but this view is pretty awesome. Very nice details in the blacks. I do wish the whites has a bit more detail. Very nice composition IMO and the subtle fract work is great.:)

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thanks Dennis. After I posted it I too noticed the lack of detail in the whites in that area below the eye, which fractalius sort of "didin't see". Just looked at the unprocessed image and the whites do have detail, so I should be able to do something with it. Appreciate the help as usual Denise. Regards~Bill

[Christopher Miller]

Hi Bill, Great action, details, and colors. I don't mind the eye at all, it adds a lot to the bird's expression IMO. Personally I think the HA could be a little better, but I don't mind it much as is. Agree with Denise on the whites.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Very nice Bill, I like how you can see all the trailing feathers from the head in the image. The action is great and the BG really sets off the heron.