I was out shooting at one of the local ponds this morning. This guy was about a block away. I took several shots when he got up and flew to within about 30 feet of me and posed for several more shots. Then, he just flew back.
Nikon D7200 and Tamron 150-600MM G1 at 420mm. 1/50 sec, f/6, iso 800.
Hi Larry:
Certainly a nice exposure and traditional pose . Color balance looks good.
I think this is far too tight in the frame. Left side and bottom are particularly cramped.
Don’t know the shooting environment, but 1 step to the left would have eliminated the merge of the twig merging with the heron. Backgrounds matter as much as the subject for many images.
I agree Keith, the background is as important. I never paid that much attention to it before being on this forum. I also agree it is tight. Here is the uncropped image:
The OOF blob in the lower left corner would be difficult to work with and explains you cropping choice. Moving further to the right to clear the blob, if possible without flushing the heron, would have made the twigs merging with the body worse. I think you did the best you could with what you had to work with. I have also become much more aware of the importance of backgrounds over the years
You have excellent color and detail in the Blue Heron. The pose and the background are quite pleasing. I took your image and did some cloning and added some canvas. So this is another idea all done with the original posted jpeg.
Excellent detail in the Heron, Larry, and I love the look of the water.
It is too bad you clipped the toes of the bird. I don’t know what your space restrictions were, but if you could have gotten a bit lower or to one side, you might have been able to get that branch that just clips the top of the bird out of the way. It’s very easy to focus your attention on the bird to the exclusion of the surroundings, but those surroundings often make or break an image, so if the bird is at all cooperative it pays to take the time to examine everything in the frame and see if a bit of movement on your part can improve it.
I just saw what David did to it. That gives you some more incentive to learn to play with Photoshop.
This is still a very nice image of a very beautiful bird.
David, thank you very much. It looks great. I sure have a lot to learn. lol
Dennis, I didn’t even realize I clipped his toes until you mentioned it. There is so much to be aware of and I got excited when he flew over and landed so close. More to work on.
There is an excellent discussion in the post processing area on the site that covers some educational tools/software that may assist your learning process.
Lots of good feedback already given. I’d only add that I wouldn’t be afraid to bump the ISO a bit more so that your shutter speed is higher. 1/50th is really pushing it when it comes to getting a sharp shot of a wild bird!!
I know! I had the next best thing to a tripod–a post.
