Little Egret Taking Off

[Craig Brelsford]

A little egret takes flight at the edge of a reedbed at Nanhui, a zone on the outskirts of Shanghai. Egretta garzetta is found year-round throughout the city-province of Shanghai, even in inner-city parks. In the original, the bird is in the northwest quadrant of the photo; thus the close crop.

Comments? Criticism? I'm all ears.

Device: Nikon D3S
Lens: VR 600mm F/4G
Focal length: 600mm
Aperture: F/5
Shutter Speed: 1/4000
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Comp.: 0
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 640
Subject Distance: 25.1 m
Photoshoppery: Besides the crop, the typical sharpening of the bird and noise reduction on everything but the egret. I upped the contrast a bit and protected the whites with the recovery tool.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Craig, well timed for the take off, and you have nailed the wingspread. Exposure looks good, and overall, nice and sharp. Well captured.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Hi Craig, great capture, like the wingspread, pose and HA. I would crop off a bit from the bottom and IMO clone out the bottom left rock TFS

[Robin Prange]

The bird couldn't be better..... pose, sharpness, and exposure are great! The natural background gives it a real "in the wild" feel. If your ethics allow I would clone out the "<" shaped stick behind the bird, it's a little distracting to this fantastic shot.
Robin

[Alan Murphy]

Love the bird. The rock and BG elemants are a bit distracting.

[Todd Frost]

Well captured. Pose, exposure and sharpness all spot on. Comp wise perhaps a bit more above and a bit off the bottom for me. Well done.
TFS
Todd

[Craig Brelsford]

Thanks to everyone for your comments.