Black-crowned Night-heron; immature

[Dave Blinder]

Taken this week in New Jersey. It troubles me a bit that DOF doesn't cover the bill. I cloned out an ugly OOF foreground rock just below his toe. Might be a bit tight in the frame, but I have no canvas on the left.


Tripod low, Aperture Priority Mode, weak diffused natural lighting as sun had moved below treeline

Camera Canon EOS 7D
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 700 mm
ISO Speed 2000
Exposure Bias +1/3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

[Jeff Dyck]

Nice portrait Dave. To my eye (or more exactly, a I see it on my monitor) the image seems to have a blue cast - I think warming things up would help the image - the yellows and oranges of the legs and eye would "pop" a lot more. I find the background a bit noisy, but I really like the colours - it could be softened a bit more if you so choose.

[denise ippolito]

Dave, Not an easy capture in NJ. The bird does seem a bit tight in the frame and a bit centered. I love the pose with the foot on the rock and the one toe hanging down. BG is soft and pleasing to me. I might add a bit more sharpening. Nicely done.

[Dave Blinder]

Hi Jeff - To tell you the truth I'm not well versed in the coloration of young Night Herons, but I tried to do the RAW white balance as authentically as possible.

Thanks for the comments Denise, will try to sharpen more on final conversion.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The WB does seem a bit on the cold side (as opposed to an actual colour cast) and warming it up would be good. I agree with an extra round of sharpening, and I'm sure resetting the black point (to get the darks darker) would help the image pop more. Good pose, and I love the great view of those long toes.