I like the slightly open beak and the clean eye contact. Love the fine details in the wings too. I am not sure about the grass bg, but I do not have any GBH fly bye's. So...As is, is not too bad. I honestly do not have any suggestions for improvement to offer up.
I like this image. The heron seems to be completely in focus. That, together with the slightly OOF background, gives this shot a 3D look.
There is a lot of detail on the bird, you handled the exposure very well.
Hey Chad, great 3D effect here, and separated from the BG nicely. Sharp where it counts, and maybe a touch off the top. This guy looks very similar to our Black headed Heron.
Sharp, nicely exposed, nice angle of bird in frame. Not my favorite wing position, and merge of head with rear wing, but he does stand out well from the background. The lighter grey areas in particular have excellent separation from BG, the darker areas less so, because of the similar luminosity.
I know he isn't technically centered, because of the long legs sticking out, but visually, all the lighter tones are centered, and I might consider a bit more canvas on the left if you have it. Personal taste on this one.
In addition to agreeing with everything Randy said (except for the adding canvas in front suggestion) the BKGR would have worked better for me had the bird been flying six inches lower....
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,