Great Egret

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Great Egret
Great Egret1800Ă—1200 370 KB

Seen on Friday at Reelfoot Lake.

Specific Feedback Requested

Any

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Canon 90D, Sigma 150-600 C
ISO 400, f7.1, 1/3200s, hand held from boat

@allensparks.wildlife
1 Like
2

So much to enjoy here, Allen, the stretched wing feathers and great contrasting background, with the autumnal tree. I was hesitant about it flying “towards” the tree rather than the other way - but now I love this composition.

3

I really like how the egret is highlighted against the really dark background and is flying into the scene. Really enjoying this one, Allen.

4

I agree with Mike and David, though unlike Mike’s initial disturbance over the Egret flying into the scene, it wouldn’t have had the same impact as flying in. I had two issues with the image, the first being a booboo I hop you caught later and it is seen in the first image, here:

Great Egret - NPN 1 -1
Great Egret - NPN 1 -1844Ă—597 86.6 KB

And then with the final image, I wanted to see more detail and less brightness on the wings. I got this using a filter selection on the Egret in ACR to reduce the glare, then reselected and inverted to ensure I did not alter the BG too much though did darken it somewhat while adding some more luminance to the reds.

Great Egret - NPN 1 -2
Great Egret - NPN 1 -21800Ă—1200 378 KB

5

I like the composition and the flight pose and the environment seen, but wonder how it might look with some of the background showing in the black area.

6

I like the scene and composition, Allen. On my laptop, there doesn’t seem to be much detail in the plumage.

7

Hi Allen
I agree with Mike on the photograph’s composition. It is just vary hard to Photograph an Egret with back light with that sun angle. Nice work.
Peter

8

A lovely setting, and an image that maybe technically not be 100% perfect (see comments above), but where the strength lies in the mood the image conveys: colors, action, setting - they all make it for me a very pleasant image to look. Cheers, Hans

1 Like
9

I certainly agree with Hans, this is a very appealing image in many ways. I also think that lifting some Shadow in the background would add to the feeling of the image. (For me, Chris has gone to far with darkening that area) Chris’s version has added luminance to the reds, but I feel the bird is the hero of this image. My only suggestion would be to reduce the background Contrast.

I think there could be a little more detail to be found in the whites of the Egret.