# Black Crowned Night Heron **URL:** \ **Category:** Image Critiques\ **Tags:** birds\ **Created:** [July 21, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592 "2020-07-21T20:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lyle\_Gruby](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@Lyle\_Gruby](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Lyle_Gruby)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592/1 "2020-07-21T20:30:10Z")
Shot this at the same rookery as my previous post. Almost full frame, cropped in a bit from the left, ran a curves adjustment, added some slight sharpening, and reduced noise on the BG. All C&C welcome. ![_LWG8539](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/5/7/5761c9ac5bbcf3f8d6533db021ad9bc34ebcf7d1.jpeg) Techs: D850 500mm f4/ II, handheld ISO 500 1/2500 f/6.3 ###### If you would like your image to be eligible for a feature on the NPN Instagram (@NaturePhotoNet), add the tag ‘ig’ and leave your Instagram username below. @feelingruby ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_McGovern](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/jim_mcgovern/32/6267_2.png) [@Jim\_McGovern](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Jim_McGovern)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2020, 1:20am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592/2 "2020-07-22T01:20:08Z")
Perfect light, beautiful appearance of the red eye. Excellent detail/sharpness where it counts. Excellent soft background…a technically perfect shot to my eye. If I could change one thing, it would be the position of the birds head. I interpret (perhaps falsely) a tension in the bird, I wish his head was in a slightly more relaxed position, perhaps a bit further to the right. I sense that he is about to flee…or just landed and is getting settled. Probably reading too much in to it, but would be interested if you recall the behavior just before/after this shot. ---
**Author:** ![Dennis\_Plank](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/dennis_plank/32/27033_2.png) [@Dennis\_Plank](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Dennis_Plank)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592/3 "2020-07-23T17:34:37Z")
Beautiful job on the heron and the shrubbery, Lyle. It gave you a very good pose and your took full advantage of it. I think you might want to look at taking some canvas off the right. To my eye it feels like there’s more room there than necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morrissey](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/peter_morrissey/32/683_2.png) [@Peter\_Morrissey](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Peter_Morrissey)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592/4 "2020-07-23T21:10:15Z")
Hi Lyle Every thing about this photograph is spot on and the eye contact and head turn just add to the power of the shot. Peter ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Minish](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/gary_minish/32/525_2.png) [@Gary\_Minish](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Gary_Minish)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592/5 "2020-07-24T17:34:04Z")
Excellent shot of this Heron, Lyle! Exposure, color, clarity and composition are right on the money for me. I wouldn’t change a thing. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Sparks](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/allen_sparks/32/63507_2.png) [@Allen\_Sparks](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Allen_Sparks)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592/6 "2020-07-25T02:04:54Z")
Wow Lyle, this is terrific. Love that red eye and the detail is superb. I could go either way with cropping some off the right - I know you like the extra space. And the background is wonderful. Very well done. ---
**Author:** ![Lyle\_Gruby](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@Lyle\_Gruby](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Lyle_Gruby)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592/7 "2020-07-29T13:28:53Z")
Thanks, all. @Dennis_Plank, I agree there’s a little too much space on the right. I had a little trouble deciding how much to go with and wound up with a little extra. @Jim_McGovern, thanks for the critique. That’s an interesting point on the tension in the bird. Personally, I think that’s just a night heron thing. Their mannerisms and “expressions” always appear tense to me, which is one thing I liked about this shot. It shows that night heron je ne sais quoi. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_McGovern](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/jim_mcgovern/32/6267_2.png) [@Jim\_McGovern](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Jim_McGovern)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/black-crowned-night-heron/15592/8 "2020-07-29T15:56:17Z")
Thanks Lyle for the education! Makes for a great capture.