Bare throated Tiger Heron

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi

Taken from the side of the Rio Azul, a tributary of the Rio Sierpe, Osa Costa Rica.

Unfortunately unable to get lower as there is a dangerous mudbank here.

This Tiger was nesting in a tree but in 3 weeks I seldom saw it in the open; fntastic bird!

Canon 40d 100-400 @ 400 F 5.6 iso 400 ss 1/400

Rich

[Christopher Marek]

Impressive bird!!!! You are right it would have been good to have a lower vantage point but it is still quite a shot.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Impressive looking bird mate. :) THe angle is OK by me, wish that bright spot was not near the URC as it draws my eye away. Wonder if this was much of a crop?

TFS

[Craig Brelsford]

A very impressive heron; thanks for sharing it. The bright spot near the head creates difficulties.

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi
thanks for comments; I'll have a look at the bright area, I did think myself it was a little distracting but how to deal with it ...

not a significant crop say 15 percent of pic area at 100 as I was quite close and these birds are pretty big!

Rich

[Charles Scheffold]

Very interesting bird... love the coloring. You might try darkening the area around the bird's head as others have suggested. I would probably mask off the bird in Photoshop and darken the background.

Charles

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi

Man did I struggle with this due to the light gradient.

In the end I opted to try and go back to original, sharpening in CS Raw and no NR; I then adjusted black, white and neutrals in selective colour, finally adding a little saturation. I think that improved the image a lot as the white area around the head is much less prominent.
Tried masking but the truth is I couldnt get it right, works, yes but looks very "cut out"
comments welcome

Rich