Egret with REPOST

Andrew, looks like your exposure was right on for this very bright, white bird. I hope you do not mind if I make a few suggestions for improving this image and future images you take. First, I would apply quite a bit of clock-wise rotation to this image before you crop it to straighten it out. Use the neck of the bird and the reflected neck in the water to correct the tilt. They should form a vertical line. Once you straighten the image, then crop it for composition. Second, I would consider leaving this as a horizontal comp keeping the bird and the full reflection, but eliminating the darker BG elements near the top. To me doing this will keep the focus more on the bird. In future shots such as this, it would be really nice if you can get eye contact with your subject. Doing so tends to draw the viewer into the image, making them a part of it and thus making the image stronger. Lastly, and this has nothing to do with image impact or quality, but just something I thought you might like to know, this is a great egret and not a snowy. Note the large size and the large yellow beak. Snowies are about half the size of this bird and have a blackish beak. I hope this helps. Cheers.

Very good job on the exposure and it looks like the focus is good at this scale. I agree with Ron's points otherwise, though I'd have to see your original framing to pick a crop that I'd like. there can be a lot of constraining factors.

Here is a straightened great egret with a little of the "junk" in the water removed and a little lighter.

Which is better horizontal or vertical ? Lighter or darker ?

Thanks !!!!

Hi, Andrew. I definitely prefer your repost. It feels a lot sunnier, and even though the egret is smaller in the frame, it works better as a composition.