Building a Home

Another from the backlog of "to-do" images...this one from Florida last spring.

While the birds weren't quite as active last March as they had been in 2013, the herons were busy doing home renovations. I know this is certainly not an unique scene or image for that matter, but it is one that was on my bucket list for a while. Unfortunately, the days we caught the heron action were more overcast, but it did allow for nice details in the birds.

I chose this one from the sequence because I liked the exaggerated pose but graceful lines of the female.

This is cropped to full-frame vertical from horizontal, and I'd be delighted to receive suggestions for further improvement (please view the LARGER version for more accurate colour and better detail by clicking on the image above).

Thanks in advance...

Nikon D600

Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR

ISO 400

1/2000sec @ f/5.6

+0.3EV

Tripod mounted

Adjustments to brightness and contrast and overall tones, minor dodging. Cropped to vertical from horizontal original.