Do you like the composition okay? Should I crop in further (I am 76% of full frame)? I am open to any suggestions that would improve this image.
Taken around 8:00 am on 9/21/18 at Assateague NWR with Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 100-400 mm L lens at 400, handheld. Settings f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 250.
Shirley: An interesting image of the heron. A bit of an odd place to find one.
I found my eye bouncing off to the right side blue sky and the lower left corner curved branch. I tried a different, tighter crop. See what you think. I also then tried to get more separation between the heron and the tree.
I like your crop much better than mine, Keith. Thank you. Not sure what you mean by “get more separation between the heron and the tree”? Are you saying that cropping it like you did separated him more from the tree? Yeah, I was pleasantly pleased to find a Tri-Color up in a Pine tree! I saw him (or maybe another) feeding in the water earlier. I don’t think I have ever seen one in a tree before. I like the way the morning sunlight was hitting him too.
I meant changing the tones of the tree and heron so they didn’t blend together so much. I added some luminance to the tree directly behind the heron and changed the contrast just a little of the heron. If you compare the two images, you’ll see a visible difference.
That’s a nice sharp shot of a heron in an unusual place. I like Keith’s edit for the reasons he states.
Thanks for getting back to me on this, Keith. Much appreciated. I see the difference. I will work on it.
Nice pose and good detail. I agree with a tighter crop, maybe even tighter than Keith’s. I wonder if you could bring out some of the shadow detail in the beak and lower feathers?
