Things are slow here in Los Angeles. I went to one of my favorite ponds on Saturday, I sat for a few hours and nothing happened. Well, this great egret walked by but it didn’t even catch anything… I cloned out a blade of reed that cuts through the egret’s body right between its legs. Does the “headless” reflection bother you?
D5, 500mm + 1.4, f/7.1, 1/2000, ISO 400
Cropped to eliminate some of the FG:
@adhikalie
I like the setting and the Egret stands out well from the water and background and is well positioned in the frame. I could see cropping this at the water line to remove the vegetation at the bottom. This might help with the “headless” reflection issue.
Nice light and setting and the plumage looks well detailed, Adhika. The headless reflection doesn’t bother me. Given how the reflection is truncated by the natural foreground, I think you could take just a tad off both the top and bottom which would make the egret appear larger.
Thanks, @Allen_Brooks and @Dennis_Plank. I like the idea of taking away some of the bottom part of the vegetation. I added an alternate crop, let me know what you think.
I like the increased emphasis on the egret, though would like a bit more room on the right. Hard to say why, exactly, but I like the setting and wouldn’t mind seeing more of it.
Hi Adhika. To my eye the slight crop makes a substantial improvement in impact. Excellent work.
@Allen_Brooks and @Dennis_Plank thank you all!
Allen’s suggestion for more in front of the bird is a very good one. I feel like with the two reeds in front and behind the bird, everything seems very tight. And I also like the setting. Here is a version that I think alleviate most of the issues we have talked about.
Hi Adhika, yes I like the last repost best and this becomes more and more of an environmental image with the bird offering a strong contrast from its surroundings. Well done.
Hi Adhika:
I really like the light in this shot. The egret makes a fine subject against the darker backgrounds. The last repost, with the egret in the left of the frame, feels much better. The absence of the head in the reflection is not a biggie. I think you can crop this even more and move the egret more to the vertical center.
