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Great Egret Portrait
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Great Egret Portrait

by Jerry Austin

Gallery: AvianPosted March 31, 2014113 views7 comments
It's that time of year at the Dallas rookery. Processed using Photoshop CS3, NeatImage and LightZone. Comments and critiques welcome.

Canon 7D
Canon 200-400 f4 L IS
f7.1
1/1000s
ISO 160
Focal Length 560 mm (teleconverter extended)

Comments

7 comments
Comment posted by Allen Brooks on April 1, 2014 at 10:43 AM
Good portrait. The facial features came out well and fairly good detail in the whites. The egret stands out fairly well from the background. Unfortunately, the background is a bit cluttered and too bad about the branch behind the bill, but that's where they are living and this photo does document that. :toast:
Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments
Comment posted by Robert Bunch on April 1, 2014 at 11:47 AM
Very nice close up of this graceful bird in breeding color.Looks like it is about time for me to make a trip out to the rookery.
Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Hackley on April 1, 2014 at 2:10 PM
Wonderful portrait and if you can ever isolate this with a more pleasing background you have a winner.
Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments
Comment posted by Rick Cloran on April 1, 2014 at 5:25 PM
Jerry, you captured peak or near peak in the breeding colors for the lores. the head shot is nice. Nothing you can do about the BG. This one looks dark to me. it may have been the lighting, but I want to see a Great Egret with white feathers. I think you can push the whites a fair amount with out risking them in any way.
Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on April 1, 2014 at 5:59 PM
Nice to see this breeding plumage. Good detail/sharpness. I agree that it could be brighter.

I"m also interested in your work flow. What steps do you do in "Photoshop CS3, NeatImage and LightZone?" Do you work in 16 bit psd. tif, or what? Are the steps performed in NI and LZ non destructive?
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on April 1, 2014 at 10:02 PM
Excellent detail in this closeup Jerry. I think I would be tempted to brighten it just a bit. You should be able to get this close to white without loosing the detail.
Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 1, 2014 at 10:48 PM
Neat portrait pose, Jerry. I do wish the dark branches didn't cross the beak.

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