Ding Darling

[Mitch Carucci]

D7000 & Sigma 150-500mm.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Very nicely cropped and nice image design...I would like to see the exposure on the Egret lifted but like the framing of the the leaves and the dark surroundings....Like to see all the exif info, SS, AV, ISO Etc, TFS Mitch!

[Doug Brown]

This is a beautiful shot! I absolutely love how the bird is perfectly framed by the hints of vegetation around it. I would definitely do a curves adjustment and bring up the whites, and I'd post it bigger (800 pixels tall) using a larger file size (up to 250 KB). About the only thing I wish for is a better head angle on the bird. Here's a repost with brighter whites.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mitch, the reflections of both egret and foliage are so clear that you could invert this, and one wouldnt know the difference. The egret stands out very well from the dark BG, and I like what Doug has done to the whites.

[Richard Stern]

Hi,

I love the composition and symmetry in this. It almost looks like a classical Chinese painting. I agree with Doug and prefer his repost.

Richard

[Dave Leroy]

A lovely and unique image. I agree the egret and green foliage could both be brighter. I would also remove the sticks and branches both top and bottom near the tips of the wings. Very well done with the composition, pose and reflection.

[Marina Scarr]

Love the artistic and flowing look of this one. Agree on brighening up the whites. Like Doug's repost but you might try one as Dumay suggested with only brightening the bird and not the leaves. It would be interesting to see the difference. Well seen and well executed.

[Mitch Carucci]

Dumay,

Thanks for taking the time to look at my pic. You are right about brightening up the Egret, and I have posted a new version.

250mm
-2 1/3 EV (despite what many have said about the D7000, I know that mine blows out highlights)
iso 400
1/500 @ F5.6

Thanks again.

Mitch

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Mitch! I like the pose, reflection and composition. I like Dougs repost.

[Mitch Carucci]

Thanks Dumay, Doug, Stuart, Richard, Dave and Marina.

Here is a repost.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Mitch

(I was lucky that this egret put such a nice curve to his wing for me)

[Mitch Carucci]

Doug,

Thanks for your repost. Brighter is better.

M.

[gail bisson]

I really like the vertical comp and the superb reflection. Very artistic. I just wish I could see a bit more detail in the bird.
Gail

[Mitch Carucci]

Stuart,

The people over at the "out of the box" forum will think I used the "Flood" filter. here, but this reflection was real. Yes, you could invert it with little change.

M.

[Randy Stout]

Mitch:

The framing and wing position on this are great. +1 on brighter bird, but not leaves.

Because of the black background, you could very easily clean up the branches near the wing tip in the reflection.


Very artistic.
Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

Very nice image, would make a very appealing print.
Good eye to get this.

[Dan Behm]

A very elegant image, The framing is ideal with the habitat around the outstretched wings, Not to mention such a beautiful reflection to go along with it. I do prefer the whites a bit brighter as well, the re-post looks really very nice!

Dan