I like the way the lighting on his face brings out his eye, and the way this pose diplays the long white neck feathers against the darker body feathers. I think a crop with more of the reflection in the water would have helped balance the photo.
I like the sharpness, the details, the exposure, the s-curve of the neck and how you shown a bit of environment here. The white OOF circles above the head of the bird draw a bit of attention away from the bird though.
Nice heron portrait Chris. They are very skittish birds in our parts. You did well. I think you have given a bit too much room from the "virtual feet" at the bottom of the image and I would give a bit more room at the top. Nothing you can do in post-processing, but it would have been nice to have the bird's head rotated a little towards you rather than away.
Rachel, Thanaboon & John, thank you for the comments and critiques. I'll investigate another cropping, as I have real estate on every side of the photo to draw from.
The case of the periwinkle pompadour
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