Great Blue Herons return to this tree every year so I decided I should check it out last month. Sure enough there were several roosting there including this proud guy (girl?) standing guard on a built nest.
It’s not tack sharp but actually prefer a softer feel to my images. What do you think?
Shot at ISO 250, 6.3, 1/1000 with my 100-400 lens. I cropped some and converted to black and white.
I see this is your first post, and a very worth one! Welcome!! I hope you will find NPN a wonderful place to hang out and share images and ideas.
This is a very nice choice for B/W. The tonalities are nicely restrained and the sharpness is fine at this size. I like the hint of a more distant tree in the LL corner. I think you have an option to crop a little from the right to move the bird off center and remove a bit of the foliage ont he right, which is nice but commands some attention.
I hope to see more of your work and comments on others’ images.
Veda, welcome to NPN and the Weekly Challenge. This does a good job of showing of nest guarding by a Blue Heron. How nice to have the located nearby. As I look, the main thing that I would change are the branches coming out of the bird’s head and neck. They can be cloned out if you’re careful. Having said that, I don’t see how you might have changed your position to move them out of the way. Some careful cloning will make them go away and let the Heron have a stronger role in the view. Although I’m not an advocate for cropping, I do see two crops that would work. Cropping from the lower left to remove more of that background dark tree, would be unconventional by having the bird looking out of the frame and left of center. Alternative, cropping from the bottom right would remove most of the branches on the right, with would let the bird get more attention.
