This Egret must have already had his breakfast, and just wanted to perch on a limb and let it settle. I liked that the side light was hitting his face, but dealing with light on half of him, and shade on the other was a bit of a challenge.
Canon 7D II, Canon 100-400 @ 300 mm on monopod with gimbal head. Setting f9, 1/500, ISO (auto) 320, shot manual. Edited in LR and Topaz. Slight crop.
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Oh I love how this guy stands out from the background, Shirley. What a great composition. The light is a little harsh for my taste as you have mentioned above and I would consider this in B&W (it’s already almost a B&W image). Thanks for sharing this!
I like the sunlit bird against the darker background, and I’ve always been fond of the mood created by tangled gray branches. The one thing I’d probably do is clone over the bright patch of feathers below the eye with the shadow shade. It’s not something I’d normally do, but in this case, that patch draws my eye away from the bird’s eye. The composition works well.
I think you did a great job given the circumstances. The composition works for me and I like how the egret is spotlighted by the sun. My only suggestion would be darken or remove the branch coming down towards the bill.
