Took this a couple months ago at Great Captains Island off Greenwich, CT. Early morning, sun just coming up, which lit the underside of the wings. I like how the heron's take off pose mimics the rock shape.
Cropped maybe 30% in LR. In PS, some sharpening, noise removal, upped exposure a bit.
Thanks so much for looking and for your comments. I'd love to know what I could do to improve this.
Almost out of the box Melissa and I like it. Love the dangling feet and the little plume showing. I wonder of a tighter crop would work- it would remove a lot of dark rock and emphasise the subject.
As an aside, note the wings twisted like an airplane propeller. Birds' wings are essentially propellers that move up and down instead of around a turning point. The twist produces a forward thrust.
One thing you might try to do would be to simply select and brighten the rocks below, showing more detail in them.
John raises an interesting point regarding the shape and motion of the wings that you have captured here. Actually, after attending a proceeding at the European Patent Office one day, I went to the science museum in Munich, Germany. There, a mechanical bird was connected to a crank, which when turned put the wings in motion. My recollection is that the wings not only moved up and down, but somewhat forward and backward as well in a complex motion.
Your image brings back memories of that mechanical bird. Thanks for sharing it!
Norm- On every downstroke, the wing pulls forward and the force is transmitted through the wing to the shoulder joints and then to the body. Hence, the body lags behind a little. On the upstroke the reverse occurs. I'm not sure of the magnitude of this back and forth motion and if it is visible in a flying bird but as you say it is there.
Like the interesting and unique pose, Melissa. Like how the outline of the rocks matches the outline of the Heron's pose. You created a nice composition. A bit tighter may help as John suggested, but would not crop too much of rock as I kind of like how it frames the bird.
Nice work!
Thanks all for your comments. John and Norm, I really appreciate the physiology lesson, how fascinating to learn how the wings move.
I tried a tighter comp but wasn't crazy about it, will post to see if others prefer it. I really like the framing of the rocks. I did lighten them, thanks so much for that tip, Norm and Gail, I think that was a definite improvement. Have posted that too--hope I did not take liberties by posting two pics.
Thanks all for your comments. John and Norm, I really appreciate the physiology lesson, how fascinating to learn how the wings move.
I tried a tighter comp but not sure I prefer it, will post to see if others weigh in. I really like the framing of the rocks. I did lighten them, thanks so much for that tip, Norm and Gail, I think that was a definite improvement.
Oy, sorry for all the pics posting, I posted two but they didn't seem to go through, so then only posted one, and now there's three! Please remove one or t'other, John, or anyone else who can. Thanks!
Melissa, interesting image...I also like how the wing shape mimics the rock. The rocks themselves add a lot of interest...hence, I like the wider crop more. Well seen.