Juv. Tri-Colored Heron

Gallery: AvianPosted September 29, 2011303 views8 comments

Canon EOS REBEL T2i
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
9/6/2011 – 7:25:53 PM
1/80 sec
Manual
f/5.6
ISO 400
Tripod
Harris Neck NWR, Georgia
Raw, LR3, CS5, 74% of FF

This was shot about 16 minutes after the Night Heron, and the light was getting a lot dimmer and I tried to compensate for that.

Pros: I like the perch and really like the pose. I think the bird is sufficiently sharp and detailed. I think the colors are correct, although certainly tell me if you disagree.

Cons: Background is not solid as for the Night Heron, so the brokenness of it makes it busy. The light and my dealing with it may not be very good.

Comments and suggestions are always desired and appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on September 29, 2011 at 3:22 PM

Nice sharp bird and perch! The colours are great.
Don't know if it was possible, but an eye-level lower angle might have worked even better. Looking down on a subject is rarely ideal.
I agree with your self-assessment of the BG. You might try to darken the BG only and add a bit more sat and possibly contrast to it. . You can do this by carefully tracing around the heron and perch with the mahnetic lassoo. Then, go to "select", choose "inverse" (which means you are choosing everything BUT the heron and perch), then use the brighten/contrast sliders and the hue/sat sliders.
A nice image!

Sandy

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

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on September 29, 2011 at 6:23 PM

Barbara, I agree that the water surface isn't ideal but the bird and perch look good to me. Really like the pose.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Ryan Marshik on September 29, 2011 at 9:36 PM

As you mention, sharp with faithful looking color.
The bright water in the foreground distracts somewhat. Wonder about adding a vignette to draw attention away from the back/foreground. Certainly not as precise as Sandy's suggestion, but easy to do well. ( I'm terrible with selections).
Cool shot of a cool bird.
Thanks for sharing

Registered on February 1, 2011, 10 Posts, 103 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on September 29, 2011 at 11:41 PM

Barbara, I think you caught this guy is a very interesting pose. I really like how it is standing on the snag. As far as the BG, it really does not bother me, in a way it kind of carries the colors of the heron deeper into the photo. I would suggest maybe cropping abit off of the right side. Well done! Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie Baugh on September 30, 2011 at 1:26 AM

I think the bird is so well exposed and the perch fantastic for its natural look and I think much like John Tobias says "the BG doesn't bother me". As a nature photographer I think this is great. I'll let the artist judge it for art.

Registered on April 18, 2011, 329 Posts, 1985 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on September 30, 2011 at 12:06 PM

Barbara, I don't totally agree with your assessment of the BG (a natural setting usually looks fine, and I think the lighting is quite good to show the colors of the bird nicely, and the colors look quite accurate for a juvenile TCH.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on September 30, 2011 at 10:13 PM

The bg is fine with me, Barbara and that's a superb pose and perch. Colors look good from my very limited experience with this species.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on October 2, 2011 at 10:23 AM

I like the birds pose and it's a great perch Barbara, well composed.
Colors look good and this marsh setting works nicely.
Well done & have a great Sunday

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments