This is the third of a brood of 3 Green Heron Chicks learning the ways of their new world. In about 4 weeks, they’ll be fully grown and will fledge into the wild. This parental pair have been nesting here for several years so it makes for a nice shooting area provided one stays a safe, non-interfering distance away.
Specific Feedback Requested
Is it just me or does it seem that I might have had my focus point too far to the right?
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
D500, 200-500 @400mm, handheld from a slowly moving boat. F/8, ISO400, 1/1250. This one was a tricky edit in that reflection was almost more detailed than the chick itself. I really didn’t do much in the reflection area but did do some lights and darks masks to heighten the detail on the actual bird as well as a brightness/contrast adjust coupled to each of the layer masks. Using “Select by Color Range,” I was able to get more of the greens to show through on the tail feathers.
@Chris_Calohan - I think this is a pretty cool image. The pose is really nice and of course having the pose and the reflection of it just adds to the overall image.
You asked about having the focus point too far to the right? I don’t quite understand the question. This one is easy to figure out where the focus point should be… on the eye.
You didn’t mention if this was full frame or not. I think the image is too tight in the frame. Colors look pretty good (although your image is in the Adobe RGB color space and should be in sRGB for all web presentation). The whites at the tail of the bird are pretty hot.
I took the image to PS and did some rough content aware crop to add canvas left and right and touched up the errors in that process. I worked a bit on the hottest white areas, and pushed the contrast just a touch. Cloned out the branches in the URC and LRC since after adding canvas, they were even more pronounced.
The position of the bird with the reflection as quite pleasing. Good job on the focus and detail. I think the exposure is perfect. That said I think Keith did a good job but I would go a step farther and remove the gray diagonal stick from both the bird and the reflection. I find that it pulls my eye towards the top of the frame and away from the bird.
Your repost following Keith and David’s suggested edits came out very nice. For some reason, I really like the dark LRH corner with the gentle curve sweeping up to the heron. Well done…Jim
