Great Blue Heron flight

Gallery: AvianPosted May 21, 2011116 views8 comments

This photo was taken at Bolsa Chica Wildlife Preserve in Huntington Beach, CA. This male in flight flew back and forth between trees in the area and the nest. He waited for the female to place the stick in the nest and then flew off for what was a seemingly appropriate stick for the next placement. This went on without cease for the three hours we observed, although several times the male stopped getting sticks to chase off an interloper. I posted this image rather than the 50 others of his flight because of his streamlined position in this photo. It was taken with a Nikon 300D at f/4.8 at 1/5000 sec. ISO-400 at 340 MM focal length.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on May 21, 2011 at 3:50 PM

Patrick welcome to NPN Avian. I also like the streamlined position of this bird. A few things that would make this image stronger would be 1) removing the stick that is protruding into the frame at the bottom right of the image, 2) allowing more room on the left side of the frame for the bird to fly into, 3) possibly crop in a little less to reduce the noise in the image and allow more room in front of the bird. In general, fly shots draw the viewer in more if the bird is coming at the viewer rather than flying away as this bird is. Lastly, you want to try and avoid shadow areas that are absent of any detail at all and you have a couple of large areas like that in this shot. Don't be discouraged by my critique, that is what this gallery is for. To learn. Keep shooting and posting and most of all. Critique other's images and read what others say make other's images strong. It is a great way to learn how to improve your own photography. Cheers.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on May 21, 2011 at 5:14 PM

Ron B,
Thank you for your comment. You have given me a lot to think about. The stick at the bottom is as a result of my inability to crop more. I presume you suggest I photoshop it out, which is beyond my pay grade at the moment. I guess that is an important element for me to learn next. Shadow areas beneath the bird?

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on May 21, 2011 at 5:46 PM

Patrick, I very much like the streamlined position of the bird. It makes him look like he's going at supersonic speed! Ron gave you some great tips. Stick around here and your pay grade will advance rapidly.

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on May 21, 2011 at 7:07 PM

I no longer have the original image uncropped, so I am unable to add more space in front of the bird. I photoshopped the stick and blurred image out.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on May 21, 2011 at 8:31 PM

Patrick, I don't know what software you are using for your photos but in photoshop (and probably other software) it is very easy to "add canvas" (extend the width of your image) when you have a solid background such as in this image. It is something I learned from this forum and very often will save an avian photo that doesn't have enough room.

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on May 21, 2011 at 10:40 PM

Patrick, It is great to see you post an image. You will enjoy NPN and the comments will really help a lot. With Eric's help and the NPN input, you will be nailing those skimmers from your kayak at Back Bay in no time. Hope to see you soon.

Harry

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on May 22, 2011 at 12:07 AM

Welcome!
You've received useful comments and have already leartned from them!
Looking forward to more of your images and your comments also. We all learn from the perspective of the newer people too.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Lusk on May 22, 2011 at 8:32 AM

Welcome to NPN, Patrick!

This truly is THE best place to learn nature photography, and to view some of the best photos you'll ever see.

Ron has give some excellent advice. The only thing I can add is to always keep the original, uncropped image file and save any files that have been worked on as copies.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments