Reddish Egret silhouette

[Sachin Saraf]

This was taken at Ding Darling NWR.

Exif data
Camera	Canon EOS 7D
Exposure	1/8000 sec
Aperture	f/7.1
Focal Length	700 mm
ISO Speed	640
Exposure Bias	0 EV

Sadly the web version I uploaded on Flickr has size of 293kb so unable to upload larger image.


But really wanted to share this one with you all...Larger version can be seen here

[Scott Leslie]

Nice image!

[Don Lacy]

HI Sachin, Really love the orange glow on the water but I feel the reflected sun is to bright in the frame and overpowers the subjects if you could have changed your position to eliminate the sun I think the image would have come together nicely.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I like the idea of the nice sunset ans silhouettes. I would tryto tone down the brightest area a little.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Sachin, I like the DOF and colors. but I am afraid the composition does not work for me. (a) as Don said, it would have been better to not have the reflected sun in there. (b) the reflections are too weak...that combined with the birds and sun makes the image a bit too top-heavy.

I am not sure what BG you'd have got my moving to the right. I'd have positioned myself there. any reason for iso 640? Best thing to do in these situations is set your aperture, meter the bright part of the BG....push exposure so that red channel is pushed to extreme right...note the SS. switch to manual and dial in those techs. As light changes, make quick adjustments.

[Sachin Saraf]

Thanks everyone...

Kaustubh I could not think quickly about all these points but I will keep note to avoid similar mistakes (I did too many on this trip)...And I forgot to change the ISO which was set while shooting Pelicans in flight....But I liked your idea about how to read the settings required for manual mode.

[Arthur Morris]

Problems well noted above. In addition, the two birds are too close together so the image is center heavy.... I too sometimes get so excited by nice silhouette colors that I screw up . Not much that you could do about the position of the two birds....

Were they both Reddish Egrets?

[Randy Stout]

Sachin:

Excellent advice from the crew above. Because these images in some ways are rather simple (no detail in the birds, usually only a few colors) they tend to rely very heavily on the positioning of the masses against the light, the balance of brightest part of the light against the blacks of the birds, and other details.

I do want to throw out a caution to everyone about shooting these images. In my day job I get to see what happens to retinas which have had too much UV exposure. Please be sure to limit looking through the viewfinder. Live view is the safest way!


Cheers

Randy

[Josh Clark]

Oh how I love silhouettes. This is a great one Sachin, love the color of that water. That sun reflecting in the water hurts my eyes just looking at it.
Great advice from Randy.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Sachin, I can clearly see what you were after, and silhouette's against colour BG's always work well. I feel the only downside to the image is the brightness of the sun's reflection on the water. I would maybe take some off the bottom too.

[Arthur Morris]

I do want to throw out a caution to everyone about shooting these images. In my day job I get to see what happens to retinas which have had too much UV exposure. Please be sure to limit looking through the viewfinder. Live view is the safest way! Cheers, Randy

In extreme cases working at a small aperture and holding the stop down lever in can work towards preventing any eye damage. Be sure to turn away as you release the shutter. There is lots on creating "blasting Highlights aka 11am" silhouettes in ABP II. You really need to know what you are doing with the exposure in these situations....

[Sachin Saraf]

Were they both Reddish Egrets?

Artie thanks for asking this question...I double checked the images taken when sun was still up and found out that these are actually Little Blue Herons (there were bunch of mixed birds all over)...The pair of Reddish Egret was on other side...

Randy, I will take note of your suggested caution.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Sachin. That makes more sense.