Great Blue Heron on a Georgia river

[Clyde Hopper]

I know that GBH s are a common bird and most everyone has photoed them,however I still find them a beautiful bird and look for new ways to show it's beauty.
I choose this photo to share ,because of the processing..I used a layering of sharpening
I tried to pay attention to the head angle..and to keep the bg clean.Yes I'm still learning.
All comments and criticisms are welcomed

Camera	Nikon D90
Exposure	0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture	f/8.0
Focal Length	300 mm
ISO Speed	800
Exposure Bias	0 EV

[Julie Kenward]

Clyde, your photo is a little small to see the details very well. When you go to do your final sizing (and before you apply any final sharpening) use this as a guideline:

Attention everyone - Here's an easy way to get a good size image to post at BPN without going over the 200k file size:

You want to get your photo resolution down to 72. A resolution of 240 is great for printing but it's way too much information for the web and it leaves you with a very small photo in order to get under the 200k guidelines. Instead, open the Image Size dialog box in PS (Under "Image"/ "Image Size") and resize your image to around a 10"x8" or 10" x 7" (you can go a little bit larger or smaller depending on the image - these are just guidelines) and then change the resolution to 72. In the Image Size dialog box in Photoshop, a crop of 10x7 and a resolution of 72 will leave your final pixel size at 720 x 504 - well within the BPN guidelines but large enough for people to view the details. Make sure all three boxes are checked below the resolution setting and change the final drop down box to read "bicubic sharpener" as this is the best choice for reducing a file size.

Now apply your final sharpening (if any more is needed) to the new smaller resolution but before sharpening click on the zoom tool and then on the toolbar that runs at the top of the screen and make sure your image size is set to "print size" so you can see how it will look when you view it online. This is the size your image will be when posted to BPN.

When you are done sharpening, do a "Save As" and save as a jpeg file. When the dialog box comes up and asks what resolution to save it as, scoot the slider to be at the highest number possible without going over the 200k limit size. (For images cropped to 10x7 or 10x8 that will usually be between 8 and 11.) Choose the highest # you can and still stay below 200.0K. Even 200.1 will be too high for BPN to post successfully.

This is just one of the ways you can save an image to post online but I see this over and over in the ETL forum so I thought it was worth mentioning again!

Now, on to the critique!

Lovely HA and a good pose. It's hard to see the details in the feathers at this size but it looks pretty good. The image overall feels dark - especially the bird - and this is probably due to the backlighting that is evident on the bird's back feathers. Fill flash would have helped to illuminate the bird more in the field but in post processing you can try a shadow/highlight adjustment and see if that helps bring out the high and midtones a bit more.

There are a few bright spots in the BG that I'd clone over as well - so that the focus of the viewer stays on the bird and not on the bright spots. Finally, the crop feels good horizontally but a little tight at the top and bottom. You want enough room that the bird feels like he can breath and walk totally upright in the image and here he feels as if he might bang his head if he elongated his neck at all so add a bit back in if you have the room.

Let me know if you have any questions, Clyde. Overall, you did very well here - the image just needs a bit more light and a little more room!

[Peter Farrell]

Hi Clyde. I also encounter Blue Herons regularly but still shoot images of them, can't resist.
I really like the pose and the fact you caught him on a low perch instead of standing in the water. Looks like good details on the bird. I agree with Julie that the image is a little dark overall and has some bright spots in the BG.
Peter

[Clyde Hopper]

Clyde, your photo is a little small to see the details very well. When you go to do your final sizing (and before you apply any final sharpening) use this as a guideline:

Attention everyone - Here's an easy way to get a good size image to post at BPN without going over the 200k file size:

You want to get your photo resolution down to 72. A resolution of 240 is great for printing but it's way too much information for the web and it leaves you with a very small photo in order to get under the 200k guidelines. Instead, open the Image Size dialog box in PS (Under "Image"/ "Image Size") and resize your image to around a 10"x8" or 10" x 7" (you can go a little bit larger or smaller depending on the image - these are just guidelines) and then change the resolution to 72. In the Image Size dialog box in Photoshop, a crop of 10x7 and a resolution of 72 will leave your final pixel size at 720 x 504 - well within the BPN guidelines but large enough for people to view the details. Make sure all three boxes are checked below the resolution setting and change the final drop down box to read "bicubic sharpener" as this is the best choice for reducing a file size.

Now apply your final sharpening (if any more is needed) to the new smaller resolution but before sharpening click on the zoom tool and then on the toolbar that runs at the top of the screen and make sure your image size is set to "print size" so you can see how it will look when you view it online. This is the size your image will be when posted to BPN.

When you are done sharpening, do a "Save As" and save as a jpeg file. When the dialog box comes up and asks what resolution to save it as, scoot the slider to be at the highest number possible without going over the 200k limit size. (For images cropped to 10x7 or 10x8 that will usually be between 8 and 11.) Choose the highest # you can and still stay below 200.0K. Even 200.1 will be too high for BPN to post successfully.

This is just one of the ways you can save an image to post online but I see this over and over in the ETL forum so I thought it was worth mentioning again!

Now, on to the critique!

Lovely HA and a good pose. It's hard to see the details in the feathers at this size but it looks pretty good. The image overall feels dark - especially the bird - and this is probably due to the backlighting that is evident on the bird's back feathers. Fill flash would have helped to illuminate the bird more in the field but in post processing you can try a shadow/highlight adjustment and see if that helps bring out the high and midtones a bit more.

There are a few bright spots in the BG that I'd clone over as well - so that the focus of the viewer stays on the bird and not on the bright spots. Finally, the crop feels good horizontally but a little tight at the top and bottom. You want enough room that the bird feels like he can breath and walk totally upright in the image and here he feels as if he might bang his head if he elongated his neck at all so add a bit back in if you have the room.

Let me know if you have any questions, Clyde. Overall, you did very well here - the image just needs a bit more light and a little more room!

Thanks very much ,Julie.I have already read ,and learned much on this forum,in a short time.I will render the adjustments suggested,and pay closer attention to size of post.I really do appreciate all your hard work,and effort put into this forum!

Hi Clyde. I also encounter Blue Herons regularly but still shoot images of them, can't resist.
I really like the pose and the fact you caught him on a low perch instead of standing in the water. Looks like good details on the bird. I agree with Julie that the image is a little dark overall and has some bright spots in the BG.
Peter

Thanks for your help Peter,Is there a set scale I could use to Gage the brightness,like the histogram,or is it something i need to learn by looking at better photos?
Reason I ask ,is, many times I am told my photos are too dark. maybe I need to have a benchmark to go by to fix this continued problem...please note: I pose this question to all who read this post.:)

[Dave Leroy]

Nicely done Clyde.

I like environmental type photos. I agree that it is a bit tight top and bottom.

Just as a check on your monitor if you scroll to the bottom of this page you will see a Monitor Calibration Strip. You should be able to see all of the different shades. If you are not seeing some of the darker tones then perhaps your monitor is a bit too dark.

Dave

[Steve Wasson]

Nice picture, Clyde! I like the lighting on the the bird's head!
I agree w/ others that a fill flash would have helped his body and I would get rid of the bright branch intruding into upper left corner.

[Clyde Hopper]

Nicely done Clyde.

I like environmental type photos. I agree that it is a bit tight top and bottom.

Just as a check on your monitor if you scroll to the bottom of this page you will see a Monitor Calibration Strip. You should be able to see all of the different shades. If you are not seeing some of the darker tones then perhaps your monitor is a bit too dark.

Dave

Thanks Dave,I can see all the deferent tones so I guess it's just me,but thanks for the heads-up,I didn't know what the strip was for.

[Clyde Hopper]

Nice picture, Clyde! I like the lighting on the the bird's head!
I agree w/ others that a fill flash would have helped his body and I would get rid of the bright branch intruding into upper left corner.

Hi Steve,I've been working on the photo,and removing the branch did make a deference,now going back to the original to see if i can open-up the crop some.Thanks Everyone for all the help!