Great Blue Heron Portrait

[Milt Berko]

There are about 11 Great Blue Heron nests in Wakodahatchee Wetlands at present. Here is a portrait of one of the residents.

Olympus E-30
50-200mm (non SWD) lens.
1.4 TC
ISO 400
1/1250
f/6.3
EV -0.30
283mm

[Jeff Parker]

Looks really noisy. Is this a big crop?

[Milt Berko]

Yes, this is a sizable crop.

[Doug Brown]

I'm surprised by the amount of noise at ISO 400 even if it's a big crop. Was it underexposed and recovered in post?

[Milt Berko]

Doug, here is the original image with slight auto contrast correction in Picasa. Nothing else done to image. What do you think?

[Doug Brown]

I think I'd include more of the original image in your crop to lessen the impact of the noise. I'd also run NR on the BG, and maybe even a little on the bird.