Great Blue Heron

Gallery: AvianPosted January 23, 2012305 views12 comments

Canon EOS 7D
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
1/17/2012 – 9:54:52 AM
1/2000 sec
Manual
f/5.6
ISO 400
Handheld
Viera Wetlands
Raw, LR3, CS5, full frame

I know this GBH is headed away from me diagonally. But I love the lines of this image and the way the bird looks. I added a tiny bit of canvas at the top and cloned out some tips of palm fronds on the right side.

Comments, opinions and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on January 23, 2012 at 10:47 AM

I agree it would be better if it wasn't flying away, but you still have the eye and a nice flight pose to make up for that!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on January 23, 2012 at 11:04 AM

I like the pose you caught and the repeating diagonals in the legs, neck, and frond. The color and detail in the wings came out well. I guess I don't see the problem with the direction in which the heron is headed, for me the pose works quite nicely. Maybe a tad more canvas on top? Overall, a very nice capture of a heron in flight.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Cristina Strudthof on January 23, 2012 at 1:37 PM

It's a different perspective for sure...nice capture and good processing.

Registered on January 14, 2011, 53 Posts, 363 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 23, 2012 at 3:03 PM

An excellent catch, Barbara. I agree on more canvas on top, and I think I would take a corresponding amount from the bottom to lessen the impact of the OOF brush line. The angle doesn't bother me. I have yet to have one of these fly toward me from a ground takeoff!

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 23, 2012 at 4:38 PM

Very good in getting the bird in full frame Barbara. Not easy to do. I like the comp, sharpness on the bird, branch, and BG. Well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 23, 2012 at 4:50 PM

Nice job on getting this difficult flight shot. I do wish the head area was a sharp as the feet but I like the overall composition, wing spread and seeing the plant hanging from the mouth, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on January 23, 2012 at 5:56 PM

Great catch Barbara. A little added canvas up top would be easy to do and would give the image some more flying space and make it even better IMHO.

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 23, 2012 at 6:29 PM

The pose is terrific and I have no issue with the heron flying away in this case. I agree on more space at the top.

There's a noticeable halo around much of the heron: the neck, left wing, belly. This usually happens if shadow/highlight adjustments are taken too far or not applied to a good selected area.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on January 23, 2012 at 8:54 PM

I like the pose. It shows the beautiful upper side of the wings. Plus it adds a sense of dynamic to the photo. I concur with the comments re more canvas at the top. That said, congratulations on getting such a large bird in the frame without it losing body parts.

Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 23, 2012 at 9:05 PM

Barbara, I like this too, more than I usually would for a bird heading away from us. I think that it has interesting lines and strong color--I like how blue the heron looks. I wouldn't mind more room on top (and maybe right just for balance if you're adding on top), but certainly wouldn't remove any of the bottom--I like the colors and the way that it anchors the image.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on January 23, 2012 at 9:08 PM

Barbara,
It's nest building time again!! Yes, he's heading away but it's not a deal killer for me. The bottom grasses give it a little perspective and depth.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on January 24, 2012 at 10:11 AM

Very good details & great light across the bird Barbara, nicely composed.
I especially like the BG interest here, and the stem in the beak makes it fly

Beautiful flight shot!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments