Snowy Egret Splendor + Repost

Egrets and herons in breeding colours and plumage are also my favorite birds.
This is a great pose and mating display, and the habitat is excellent.
Not sure what the whitish stripe along th right side is.
You're right that it is not quite sharp, but still a nice image.
Many long lenses are not at their best when at their longest - back off a bit and crop a little less tightly, if , to preserve the best sharpness possible.
Loving your images !
Sandy

Thanks for the comments Sandy.

I don't quite remember what that stripe is.  Sometimes I focus so intently on the subject, that glaring defects escape me; thanks for pointing it out.  I'm thinking that it may have been a foreground grass blown into the frame by the wind that was also affecting the bird.  We were having a lot of trouble with that, but couldn't trim them as it was private property. It could also be one of my early, and poorly executed, attempt at cloning.  I'll go back and and see if I can deal with it.

Regards,
Raoul

Great pose, Raoul, and excellent exposure.  I agree that it's a bit soft, but not bad at all.  The lighter stripe does look like foreground grass, which can be very difficult to detect in the viewfinder.  I'm not sure as I have limited experience with this species, but I'm wondering about the white balance.  The feet and bill look awfully red on both my tablet and my calibrated monitor.

Wonderful breeding colors and I really like how the whites pop off that darker background.

Dennis, Sandy,

The stripe was almost certainly foreground grass--and yes, it is invisible in the viewfinder.  I have learned to come off the viewfinder and give a look-see at the immediate environment.  Being a nit-picker, I hate that I completely overlooked this.  Ah-well...

I am working exclusively with LR 6.0.1 which isn't really designed to handle issues like the stripe, but I gave it a go, and think that it looks passable now.  And yes, the lores and feet did look unnatural.  I checked the white-balance and it seemed okay, so I recalibrated the monitor and toned down the saturation a tad--hopefully the color looks more natural now.  I also corrected a lean to the left which bothered me.  My tripod kept sinking into the wet ground at the site. 

Thank you both for the help!  Feel free to make additional comments.

Raoul

 

Really nice capture Raoul. Generally the colors are very attractive, the greens make the whites pop nicely. Like Dennis, the feet look orange rather than yellow, even in the repost. Is that the way they were? Would have been nice if he raised his head with some eye contact. A very strong image, well done.

Great pose, Raoul.  Think I know exactly where your were.  I was there a couple weeks ago at the small pond next to the nursery (got a few cattle egrets I posted).  This is a good breeding display and well done considering the environment and what seems marginal light.

Steve,

Thanks for the comments; I really appreciate them.  I should keep field notes describing the subject's attributes if they are unusual.  I did back off on the saturation a tad, and I believe the repost is closer to the color--although they are still vivid. 

Bill,

Yes, that pond exactly--under the tree.  That day, there were several of us lined up in a row.  The subject to camera distance on that pond averages 100-110' feet which is better than the big pond.  Even so, I have had to crop a lot to get the compositions I like.  I have been dealing with a health issue for several months now, and haven't been back yet this Spring.  I'm itching to go though.  Next time you make a trip, let me know and I'll try to get down there and meet you.

I love finding birds under cover there they are illuminated by pockets of light.  With a dark background, the Snowys, GWEs, and Ibis, really glow.  I spot-meter on the birds and let the background nearly go dark.  In my repost, I raised the exposure about 1/3 stop too much, and some of the luminous quality is lost, I think.  Alas, I think the editing could go on forever.  LOL

 

A beautiful capture of this handsome egret in full display in wonderful habitat Raoul. I like the re-post better, but both versions are certainly keepers.

Excellent Work!!!