Reddish Egret #2

[WIlliam Maroldo]

SonyA850~Sony70-400G@400mm~ISO1000~1/2000sec~F8~manual exposure~hazy~HH~4-18-2011~Bryan Beach(near Freeport), Texas~CS5
This image was taken late afternoon under a light haze. The contrast was not low as in my last reddish egret image, and high enough to cast a shadow(notice the diffuse shadow of the bill on the neck). This type lighting tends to allow the advantages of both low contrast light (ease of exposure) and that of high contrast light (better detail). I realize the brown mud strip in the background could be considered distracting. Comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

[Martha Weaver]

One of my favorite birds! I love to watch them in action. Neat the way you captured it looking toward you! Mine are always camera shy and want to turn away!

Was this at Galveston? Have they come back after Hurricane Ike?

[Stan Cunningham]

Nice image Bill.
Although I like all the water "spray" left from his last head dart (assuming?), they are almost random in their location. If it were mine, I would probably clone some out, the one's left of the bird in the center look they are on your lens. JMO
Stan

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Bill, nicely captured and presented. I love the colors these birds have! I got a treat last summer and got to capture one way out here in California.

Good detail and color rendition and the brown band in the bg is only mildly distracting IMO. I might lighten the area around the eye just a tad. Personally, I like the spray of water droplets as I think they help to tell the story. Nice light.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Appreciate the feedback. I'm not going to clone any water drops out
Martha; if you read my techs at the top of my post you'll notice in says Bryan Beach(near Freeport),
Although I live in Houston, I rarely shoot in Galveston, though occasionally in Bolivar (the flats).
The are just so many better places in the area for avian photography, like (as you know) Brazos Bend State Park. By the way Wecome to BPN! regards~Bill

[Ulli Hoeger]

Great detail and nice action in your image. The abundance of splashing water is not an issue for me.

I feel that the image could use a bit more space on the top, the heron's head is just to close to the image edge. If you don't have any real estate in the original it would be an easy thing to add. I would try to get the head/eye closer to the border of upper and center third of the frame.

Ulli