egret at dawn

I'm not sure how well this works, but I guess I will find out soon enough. I don't remember why I used this iso/ speed combination, it looks a bit strange to me now, but I was still trying everything out at the time. Pagham Harbour last autumn.
C&C most welcome.

400D 100-400 @ 400 x1.4 handheld
iso1600 1/1600 f/5.6
crop LS to Portrait

looks like a harsh bit of lighting there eric, did well to get it held,

Like the monchromatic feel, not too sure what the 'white' specs are, water? But still nice!

steve

Hi Eric well done on the exposure the white blobs are a wee bit distracting.
John
Aberdeen

You have done well here with the exposure-as steve said very monochrome feel to it

Dave

It has a very monochrome feel and I have pondered about what the top half of the frame is adding. In a way I like the concept of environment, but cannot halp but feel that its lightness ( and it of the water) compete with the subject to much.

Hi Eric,

This is a nice composition with a cracking pose from the subject. The white's look like they held well in this extremely harsh looking light.

I know I'd blown mine!

It certainly does look like it has a monochrome feel to it. I think Tom has a point though!

Thanks for the comments everybody. I confess that I like this picture quite a lot without really knowing why. I have tried larger crops, but because of the iso rating and the distance that this bird was from the camera when I took the shot, the quality doesn't really hold up. The spangles are fierce reflections off of the myriads of small stones and shells that litter the mud and I have been unable to get rid of them easily by either toning them down or cloning. I guess this one will have to be kept in a folder marked 'good ideas to try when the light is better!' Like all of us I suspect, when it is dull I want the sun and when it is sunny, I wish it would cloud over.
Eric

Eric, I think I'd try it with a landscape crop, putting the bird on the right. Just an idea.

Nice...well done Eric