Black egret (Egretta ardesiaca)

[Geurt Bloem]

This is a full frame image of a black egret at Marievale, a bird sanctuary close to Johannesburg. These guys "fish" for their food by wading in shallow water and making a sort of umbrella with their wings to create a shadow area under which young fish fingers would like to hide, with dire results:)
I did clone out some intruding feathers and matter on the water just below the perch as well as a small intruding stick on the right in PS. The image has a capture USM (200/0.3/3), a small S-curve and smart sharpening (50/0.3/lens blur)
Stats
Date and time 008:02:24 06:32:08
Camera 1D MIII
Lens 600mm f4 IS
Tv 1/640,
Av f/8
ISO 400 at -1/3

[Tony Whitehead]

Nice image, Geurt. The feather detail is great. The pose looks a little awkward and I would like a bit more space in front of the bird.

[Gary Dumer]

Good Eye Contact, Crisp detail, foot postion shows action and overall Pleasing image!!!

[Stu Bowie]

Superb exposure on the blacks, and great feather detail shown Geurt. Although full frame, a little more space to look into would have been great.

[Stephen Earle]

I think you handled it all very well here Geurt, even the composition is fine with me. The only possible nit would be the slight shadow on the back of the egret.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

I really like the pose and the light,nice work!

[DanWalters]

Really like the pose and the light. Maybe a little more room in front of the bird.