Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Spring at the Orlando Wetlands is a great experience for Hikers/Potographers. A boardwalk skirts a Cypress copse where numerous species of wading birds nest. This Image is of a Great Egret nest with 2 chicks.
Specific Feedback
I appreciate any technical advise, and also, I would like any suggestions as to additional editing I should get more familiar with. Thank you In advance.
Technical Details
The Photo was Shot Hand Held with a Canon 6D and EF 100-400 F/4.5-5.6+1.4 Ext
Shutter Priority 1/1600 F/8.0 Focal Length 560 mm ISO 640 Dim 6240 x 4160 cropped to
2997 x 1998 Edited in Lightroom Classic
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1 Like
Welcome back, Carl. The preening chick makes a very nice subject and judging by the eye it looks quite sharp. It would help in critiquing if you could post it a bit larger than this. Most people are posting images at around 2000 pixels on the long edge these days and there’s no problem with file sizes with that dimension.
That said, I think you got excellent exposure on the chicks without any whites being blown, which can be a significant issue. While the background is busy, that’s just something that you have to expect in a rookery. It can sometimes be mitigated by the use of a subtle vignette (the radial gradient mask inverted can work well for that). I have sometimes also moved the dehaze slider to the left through that filter which can de-emphasize the surroundings a bit. While you already have a pretty large crop here, you might look at a square format. It would tend to center the bird a bit, but I think this pose would work with a centered composition.
A fine post and I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work and your comments on other people’s efforts.
Thanks for your kind words and especially for the technical advise.
Hi Carl, agree with Dennis’ comments above. Eye looks sharp so good job capturing that amongst all the foliage. You caught a nice preening pose which makes for a fine behavioral image.
