Great White Egret

[Jim Sharp]

This is my first post and want to say 'Hi' to everyone.
I've been viewing all the wonderful images being posted for a while now and more than a little overwhelmed by all the
great photographer/members present here.
Looking forward to participating more in the future and hope to pick up some much needed tips and tricks from all.
I took this shot of the Great White Egret in St. Augustine, Fl while visiting the Alligator Farm in April of this year.
Please feel free to critique.
1DIV...EF 70-200 w/1.4x...1/2000...f/6.3...ISO 320

[Randy Stout]

Jim:

A big welcome to BPN. This is a great place to learn and grow as a nature photographer..

I love the transilluminated wings and feather detail. Excellent wing spread. Exposure on bird is good, except for part of face and neck ( perhaps a bit hot, not much detail showing.)

The clouds appear to have blown whites ( obviously hard to control on clouds) and I would try to see if any detail at all can be teased out of them. If necessary, do a double raw conversion, exposing one for the bird and one for the clouds.

Wish the head was a bit more our way.

In a perfect world, a lower shooting angle would have been nice, probably not possible at that venue without getting too much background in.

Again, welcome to BPN, and look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

[Jim Sharp]

Thanks Randy, appreciate your suggestions and will give them a try.....

[dankearl]

I like the feather detail on the Egret a lot.
Randy hit on the other points.
Welcome and thanks for posting.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent dynamic pose with the nesting material, light was a bit harsh and some of the whites are hot as mentioned

[PRABIR BHATTACHARYYA]

Jim, nice shot to start with. As a capture its very good. May be a little more post processing as advised by others will make it more stunning.

[Rosl Roessner]

Hi and Welcome Jim,
I really like the wing spread and the overall expression of the image. The twig in the beak is a plus.
Light was a bit harsh, but you can't change that... (well, if you come to Germany in November, you don't have harsh light ;-) but you don't have Great White Egrets as well...)