Great Blue Heron

[Dave Leroy]

Perhaps not everyone's idea of a good looking bird, but it is certainly indicative of the hard life's they do live.

Photo was taken a few weeks ago on a cold and windy day. High SS was to try and freeze the flimsy head feathers in the strong wind.

I used Robert O'tooles APTATS I to realign the eye for a more direct look. No matter what i tried I could not get bird to make eye contact.

7D, 500mm, 1/2000, f4 ISO400, Gitzo and Wimberly

Dave

[James Shadle]

Dave said "Perhaps not everyone's idea of a good looking bird, but it is certainly indicative of the hard life's they do live."
Thanks for explaining your vision. You certainly captured a rough looking bird that was been through "that wars".

Very nice job on the eye(thanks for disclosing), how about some catchlight while your there.
The image is sharp and well exposed. Looks like it could handle a boost in contrast.

I feel a little extra room at the bottom and a warmer WB would improve this image.

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

He does look like he has had a tough go of it.

To my eye, the image has enough contrast, but I might go 1/4 or so stop brighter.

The tall head feathers makes for a bit of a compositional challenge, and he seems a bit crowded down in the LLC for my taste. If you have a bit more below, I think it would balance all the negative space on the RUC.

Sharp, and nice job on eye.

Cheers

Randy

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Very nice, Dave. Those two head feathers make it quite special. Good job on moving the pupil(back, I assume). Well composed/ cropped.

Agree with Randy that a bit brighter will help...If mine, I'd play a bit with the middle part of the curve.

[Dave Leroy]

Thanks Guys for comments. photo is FF so not much i can do about adding more bird...

I did have a look at a bit of work with curves and added a catch light as well.

The changes are pretty subtle. The laptop may not pick up enough changes.

Dave