2 in 1 great egret + re post

A beautiful capture in some horrible light. Sometimes you take what you can get. I would crop out the rocks on top as there's lot's of noise in the large version and I don't feel it adds anything to the comp. The blown out pixels on the bird's back are kind of tough also, Never the less I really like the pose with an ample meal about to be consumed.

When the light is this difficult thre really isn't any way to overcome it just with exposure. If you had exposed to record detail in the bright area on the egret's back you would have under exposed the rest of the subject significantly, and this under exposed area would not be recoverable in a natural way during post processing.

I don't believe in the philosophy that "Sometimes you take what you can get." Yes, we all succumb to the excitement of the moment from time to time; but we seldom share those images and instead use them as reminders to avoid harsh light.

I do like the double catch and the pose; I agree with John about cropping the stuff at the top.

A 2fer. How often does that happen? Nice image but the light really doesn't give you a break. Agree that the top must be cropped. That takes care of some of the blown highlights. As to the rest, I'd be curious to see what the histogram showed and if there was a little room to cut back the exposure and at least reduce the area of blown whites. , That's all I can think of.

Nice capture of the Egret catching two fish. This shot however might be kept as is... if you were going to edit the shot, I would see what can be recovered in RAW(if you shot in RAW). If not a careful cloning of the burned out areas might work. Also I agree with the crop on the top. The vegetation blur at the bottom left is also distracting... perhaps a narrower crop overall might work. Nice catch.

John: It does look like you had some tough light to work with. I would think about using fill flash to help with this situation. Flash can help tame contrast issues when used properly. I don't know if the SX50 has a hotshoe, but it certainly would require a shoe mounted flash, rather than a popup to have enough power to do anything with this subject. Definitely agree about a crop from the top.

Nasty light indeed, although I never use one, I agree with Keith that flash may be the only real option here.. Cheers, Hans

Thanks everyone for your comments. I have included a re-post. This was only the second time I have had the chance to photograph the great egret at close range in the field, and I enjoyed every second of it despite the poor light.

A nice restoration John. I am not certain how to get rid of the green blur in the foreground. You may like to experiment with making the shot a B&W or a sepia tonal shot and increase the contrast and brightness.

Personally I am not too keen on Flash shots outside with nature, the subject may react abruptly from the unnatural flashing light.

The repost is a nice improvement John, cool to get him with 2 fish!