Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Saw egrets at a local park pond this morning. Shooting conditions were foggy.
Any.
I used dehaze in Photoshop ACR to reduce some of the foggy look. How do you think these look?
Canon R7, 400mm f4 DO IS II, 1.4x extender III, monopod
ISO 2500, f5.6, 1/1250s
Hi Allen. It looks like your use of dehaze was pretty much right on. There’s still a bit of foggy look, but the egrets show very nicely. Sometimes I like a really foggy look, but it can be too much. When I looked at the first image, I wanted the egret going the other way-you might want to try flipping it and see how you feel about it.
Such lovely calming colours. I don’t know egrets but I imagine them to be similar to the Great Blue Herons that dominate my west coast environment. I love the reflections that tell such a great story of the stillness and appreciate the photo with the wings touching the water. I don’t really get the sense of fog…they are more smokey looking ( though maybe that’s because we have so much wildfire smoke around it is all I can think of). Personally, I would like to see with less dehaze.
I first looked at this one on my phone and then with my calibrated monitor. Wow–big difference and the whites are exposed perfectly. The foggy conditions add a nice feature to the BG which would have been very contrasty in full light. I like the format of the second one over the first. The extra room on the bottom of the frame and stronger fog puts it over the first one…Jim
Both shots are good and tell the story of the fog, but I vote for #1. (Was there a vote?) That wing tip dragging the water does it for me.
Hats off to you for capturing such a serene moment. The way you’ve managed to seize the grace of the egret in flight, with its reflection mirroring its majesty on the water, is truly remarkable. There’s a wonderful balance to the image, with the egret perfectly positioned to lead the eye across the scene. The stillness of the water and the soft green backdrop really allows the bird’s white plumage to stand out, creating a strong visual impact.
