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Ruffled Grey Heron
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Ruffled Grey Heron

by Toya Heatley

Gallery: AvianPosted August 19, 201264 views5 comments
Went out yesterday and the sun decided to hide behind the clouds leaving me with a dull drab day. This heron wasn't exactly happy about my pointing a camera at him. He was puffing up and ruffling his feathers when I shot this one, not long after that he flew off.

Canon 550D & monopod
500mm
ISO 800
1/2000 sec
F/6.3

Comments

5 comments
Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 20, 2012 at 3:17 AM
Very pretty bird - quite different than our herons here. I love the NZ things you're showing us!
The parallel lines of the upper water add a lot of interest.
Quite tight on the bottom - since the lower water is "plain", it would be easy to clone in a bit more canvas to balance this nice image a bit more, if you wished to.
Nice work!
Sandy
Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments
Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on August 20, 2012 at 10:21 AM
Very nice, Toya. I think in this case I would have tried to go for a lower angle and not the reflection. The lighting looks quite good. I'd like to see this bird a little more close up and maybe with a tiny bit more of a head turn. Also, as this bird isn't moving too quickly maybe reduce to iso 400 or so..... You would still have a fairly high shutter speed that would eliminate some of the noise I see in the background. :toast:
Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Hackley on August 20, 2012 at 2:46 PM
A heron with an attitude, some good points mention by Charlie, this might make a good pano crop with the nice detail on the rocks and leave out the reflection to have the detail/sharper areas in the image.
Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on August 20, 2012 at 11:28 PM
Toya I agree with the suggestions regarding the lower reflection. I really like the larger image with the reflection and water cut off. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Gulash on August 21, 2012 at 12:12 AM
Some interesting textures in the beach and the ripples adds to the interest for me. I'm ok with your composition, but others have made some valid suggestions as well. The fluffed feathers are somewhat comical.
Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments