You have alot going on in this one. I agree with your assesment that the light is sort of harsh....the image overall looks dark to me, the adult birds have a gray/green color cast, maybe from light reflected off the grass. I can see where you went for DOF with f/16 but you probably lost some sharpness from the relatively slow shutter speed of 1/100, you could have bumped the iso up to get more shutter speed. I did a repost with adjustment of levels, also reduced the green saturation and under selective color I removed a little black from the whites.
It's definitely harsh lighting and you do have definite issues with the shutter speed. I like that you went for an action image but I don't think this one works for several reasons: HA's are not great, two main birds are too close together and blurry/heavily shadowed, and both babies are facing away from the frame. So let's here from some of the other people how you could have exposed this better and what ss they think you'd need in a situation like this so you'll be ready to go next time.
Anyone want to help Vince out? How would you have photographed these birds in this scene - or would you have even tried?
Nice critique Joel!! - Have been enjoying reading your comments - well done!! (And Jules - AS ALWAYS!!)
Have a few idea's - but will let others jump in first :)
First off, I'm not thinking those are baby great egrets (yellow/green legs, black bills.)
Harsh lighting and white birds are a really difficult combination. Had I given it a try, I would have probably focused my attention on either the great egret pair or one of the two smaller birds. I would have moved my position to try for a better angle with the sun and if I was going for the egret pair, definitely would have upped the ISO and shutter speed. I also would have tried to get in a little closer if possible and monitored the histogram closely (knowing I would be in serious jeopardy of blown whites.) Then I would have hoped that they would turn their heads a little to give me that wonderful HA we all love :o
I'm not bothered by the proximity of the egret pair, but more by the lack of detail.
The idea behind this shot and the habitat are really nice. I like bird portraits, but I'm most happy when I can capture behavior and habitat. This shot was a great attempt to include both.
Protectig the Babies
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