Lilttle Blue Heron

You've been holding onto this gem for quite some time. Great action and focus on the eye. The framing is wonderful, but I'd add a strip of canvas on the bottom to give the reflection some room.

I think what I like most about this image is the consistency of colors. Hope I can track down some of these that make their way up here this summer.

- Luke

On your belly again
Very nice photo with the intent stare and the water splash frozen in time!
I've been wondering when we'd get a photo taken from your belly while laying in the snow??

Oh WoW! Mia, this is now my favorite shot of yours. I agree with Luke regarding the strip of canvas on the bottom and think that would put this over the top. Such detail and the water is just wonderful. Sharon

Your work is nothing but stupendous! Beautiful detail, comp and love the action!

Great action and exception angle. A bit more room on the bottom would be nice, but not a huge deal

Just when you had us convinced that your great Florida shots were over you come up with this topper. Great action. Well done Mia.

I also agree with more canvas on bottom. Lighting, details, and action are great, but to me the colors are fantastic.

Great shot Mia. I like Luke's suggestion about some extra canvas too.

Great detail and action in this one.

WOW Mia - a superb shot and your timing was spot on

I really like the low ankle belle shot you did, great action to.

I love everything about this one Mia, especially the drops of water. If you are considering altering the composition, have you tried the content-aware-scale tool in CS4? It can sometimes move the main subject a little (upwards in this case) without the need to add canvas. Not sure if it would work in this situation, but it's worth a try.

Love everything about this, the water droplets and the colors. Really like the reflection,

Mia, another great shot. LBHs are one of my favorite birds and you caught this one in a nice action pose. I love the colors, light, and water action. The comp suites me just fine. I don't even mention detail and sharpness anymore with your images as it is always stellar.

Beautiful capture Mia, love the water droplets.
May

Nicely done Mia. The water drops always add such a nice touch to photos like this.

Brilliant, Mia!

Your exposure and timing is great, Mia. Ditto on Luke's comment for just a bit more space below.

Excellent image quality; nice moment captured.

Well done.

I love the very effective stop action in this image and of, course the colors and lovely detail, Mia. I agree with Luke about the extra canvas. Ian's suggestion has me looking into my CS4 books! My only other wish with this image would be that there be a clearly defined prey. I studied that ball of water before reading your statement about the prey escaping and convinced myself that it was a clam (which seems to me would be pretty tough for a heron). Anyway, the identity of the thing at the end of the heron's beak adds a bit of mystery!

My thanks for the comments & critiques on this image.

There isn't any of the original image below what you see here.

One issue with laying down at the water line to get a low angle is you can either end up with a truncated reflection, or have mud at the lower frame of the image. In this case I must have opted for the truncated reflection. For me the action is the primary focus not the reflection, but I understand for other people they would like to see the whole thing. This was as close as I could get and not have tidal mud to deal with.

Ian, I do know about the content-aware-tool in CS4, but I like to leave my images as close to natural as possible and do as little cloning & manipulation as possible except in rare cases. Taking the bird and moving it up would feel like too much manipulation to me and it feels too much like a slippery slope that I could fall down instead of relying on my techniques and skills in the field. I'd rather get things right in the camera. I do appreciate you telling me about the content-aware-tool in CS4 though, thank you.

Steve, I know what this little blue heron was after and it did catch it not many frames after this, it was a pipefish, an awesome creature in its own right. I had posted an image of the catch not long after taking the image, you weren't a member at the time.

Thank you again for your comments & critiques, I learn so much from them.

Interesting, thank you for the info, Mia. I found the image in your portfolio: "Little Blue Heron with Pipefish". For a thin snaky fish that Heron sure made a big splash!

I'm late to the game on this one, but I have to say, this is just excellent. great color, stop motion, detail, water droplets. I think I'd try adding just a tiny strip of canvas at the bottom, but with the water reflections that could be pretty difficult and I totally understand wanting to get the photo right the first time and not overmanipulate at home.

You know how much I love this image Mia. The IQ is superb and I really like that water "stack". The reflection, flying water drops and downcurved feather at the tail all really appeal to me. Exposure and sharpness are spot on. Just excellent!

Mia, that's a mighty big splash the little blue created. Reviewing my files I noticed that I caught a similar frame of this strike but at a slightly different time (yours has much more water impact). Agree that it could use more space on the bottom, but knowing your low posture technique, you likely would have gotten the shoreline just out of frame. Makes me look forward to revisiting Fort D in March. Nice work!

Awesome image Mia. The splashing water is perfect. Worth layin in the mud for sure.

Wow, what a great capture, the water action really makes this stand out, wonderful shot, way to go.

Super shot!

Fantastic, Mia! I'm with you.... leave it alone. I admire your patience too. Seems like when I get a photo I almost always post them on the same day. I tend to rush and make rookie mistakes in processing.

What a beauty Mia - fabulous splash and clrity evident in the plumage.

Well caught and I like the way how you have caught the concentration on the face.
Matt