Little Blue Heron

Gallery: AvianPosted April 16, 2012234 views9 comments

Canon EOS 7D
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
4/12/2012 – 3:28:15 PM
1/1000 sec
Manual
f/5.6
ISO 400
Handheld
Rookery at St. Augustine Alligator Farm
Raw, LR3, CS5, 45% (see below) of FF

I have wanted to get at least one good image of each of the types of birds at this rookery. The Little Blue Heron and Little Green Heron are the two I didn't have. I haven't found the Little Green Herons yet. I did get the chance to photograph this Little Blue Heron.

I had to rotate CW, though, and had to crop down to 45% to get what I thought was a reasonable composition. I don't think I see as well as I probably should, but to me the detail still looks good in this, but am I just not seeing whatever loss in detail there is?

Also, what do you think about this background? I like the way the diagonals of the fronds kind of mirror the lines of the bird.

Comments, opinions and suggestions on the above or anything else would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on April 16, 2012 at 3:40 PM

This is less successful compared to your other recent shots from the rookery for a number of reasons. The biggest issue for me is the background and setting in general. The wood is just to prominent and distracting for my tastes, and I don't care for the brightness of the green fronds in the bottom left of the frame.

The crop is about the limit of what I feel comfortable doing, and with precise focus and exposure in the original one can usually get a decent cropped image. The detail in your image looks ok to me, but I'm seeing some noticeable noise in the darker plumage.

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

Comment posted by Basri Akcasoy on April 16, 2012 at 4:47 PM

Good light management, nice posture of bird, natural green background on top and bottom. TFS.

Registered on February 16, 2012, 118 Posts, 767 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on April 16, 2012 at 7:29 PM

Barbara,
I'm glad you were able to get one of the two birds you still had left to photograph. Kudos to you and good luck getting the little green heron. As for this image I do like the way the two background greens below and above the bird match the angle of the bird. The wood just behind the bird might be slightly distracting to me but it's not bad at all. Just makes the whole image slightly busy. Can't wait to see the little green heron post Barbara.

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

Comment posted by Richard Teller on April 16, 2012 at 9:21 PM

There is great detail for such a good a large crop and the color in the heron is very good. The background is a bit busy.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 16, 2012 at 10:29 PM

A solid image of this species Barbara, I see a bit of noise in the dark feathers as well which is probably partly caused by the crop. The bg is fine.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Verdon on April 16, 2012 at 11:13 PM

Barbara girl you always bringing shot what I can just dream about, great quality, colors and detail........

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on April 17, 2012 at 7:36 AM

Very nice colors and detail, I line the composition.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on April 17, 2012 at 6:31 PM

I think the large crop held up fairly well and there is some good feather detail in the larger image. I do not like to go below a 50% crop for my images as you just start to lose too much and I would agree that the background has a contrast variation that does take away from the image. These herons do have some really cool colors to them and make for an interesting shot.

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

Comment posted by Dottie Short on May 12, 2012 at 3:23 PM

Nice sharp image of the Little Blue Barbara. We have lots of them in the Houston TX area specifically in Brazos Bend State Park just south of Houston if you are ever in this area. If you a pretty good with editing software I would like to see you tone down the palm fronds a but. They kinda draw my eyes away from the excellent shot of the heron.

Registered on April 12, 2010, 61 Posts, 375 Comments