The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This great egret (ardea alba) was preening itself right by a walkway, and in the evening just before dark it really stood out.
Specific Feedback
I’d love any thoughts on processing & crushing blacks in the background. I think it helps the egret stand out. Is the egret too bright?
Technical Details
1/160 sec at f/6.3, ISO 200. Cropped slightly. Luminance mask used to crush the background, and some healing done to remove distractions. Highlights/whites lifted. Canon R10.
Matt, you captured a wonderful pose here. Beautiful bird.
I don’t know what’s in the background but you might be able to raise the blacks some to show a touch of detail and still have the bird well highlighted. The whites look good although toning down wouldn’t hurt. There’s plenty of detail there. I could also see a slight warming of the entire scene (move the white balance a touch to the right).
It’s a great scene and wonderful shot of the Egret, Matt. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Welcome to NPN and the Avian forum, Matt. This is a really nice pose and I tend to like the black background, though other’s might disagree. The well lit egret with dark grasses immediately in front of it doesn’t feel quite right to me. It’s effective in isolating the bird, but the technical half of my mind keeps telling me it’s not real. Composition wise, my eye wants just a bit more canvas on the right if you have it.
Again, welcome and I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more of your work and getting your insights into other folks efforts.
I’ll add my welcome, Matt! Good job getting close to this guy. The whites look good to me but for my taste, the crushed blacks have gone too far. A dark BG would feel good here but unless there is major junk there I think it could be interesting with the lighter and mid BG tones brought down more than the darkest ones. The area in the lower right especially shows the harsh transition from midtones to blacks. Crushed is an appropriate term! A slightly gentler treatment combined with a darker vignette might work well here.
I’ve just added another version with the great feedback you’ve all provided. I went a bit easier on the background, adjusted the WB, adjusted the crop a little and added a vignette.
I do like the really dark BG, but everyone made great points that it looks a bit unnatural!
I like the new version a lot! You have the drama of darkness without sudden transitions to dead black. There is always the option on cloning any objects that remain too bright – going over them with a ~50% opacity clone brush from a dark area can work wonders.
Hi Matt, welcome to NPN! I like the details in the whites and that they haven’t been pushed too gray. Don’t have much to add to advice given above. Really like the repost. Thanks for sharing!
First of all, welcome Matt. I think the repost you added is well done. The blacks are just too crushed in the original image. I would like to see a smidgen more room on the right side of the frame as things feel a bit tight overall. With only a small crop you were able to get really close to this guy. Well done for being stealth like. The one large blade of grass going across the wing of the bird is something you might try to clone out if you are ok with that. I think it would help quite a bit.
Great first post, Matt. Lokoking forwar to more of your work.
