Great Blue Gets a Snack

Great Blue Heron catches a minnow and is in the process of eating it. My last shot from the Trinity River in Fort Worth.

The decisive moment. The minnow is a little small to be easily noticed or instantly recognizable, but an outstanding environmental portrait nonetheless. I love the unusual setting and the way the birds are lined up through the image at different distances and different attitudes. Might could use a little brightening, and I would take out the branch in the upper left.

I wanted to make clear that by brightening the image I mean stretching the histogram to the right while not changing its left extent. This will not only brighten the image, but also increase its contrast while leaving the blacks black. Of course, it might not help the image at all, but the only way to know is to take a look.

An alternative to make the minnow stand out would be to clone foam into some of the streaks in in the foam around the area of the minnow. The streaks are long and slender, too, and tend to camo the minnow.

Selective brightening of the Great blue might also be an alternative. How about a white or gray balance attempt?

Great action shot.

the fisch

Good timing Daniel. That's about the smallest meal / snack I've seen a GBH eat. Thanks for sharing.

I think this is one of your finest shots, Daniel. I love this composition, and the image is tack sharp. Excellent work!