Egret Strike

Gallery: AvianPosted August 7, 2014230 views5 comments

Hi everybody! I’ve been “Stalking“ the NPN site for quite a while now. My two sons decided to give me a gift membership for my birthday, and here I am. I already feel like I’ve learned so much from the many talented photographers that hang out here at NPN. I have been doing various types of photography over the years but a couple years back fell totally in love with Nature photography, mainly avian subjects. So… there is a little bit about me, I’m sure I’ll have a great time here at NPN. I’m looking forward to learning much more as well as helping out as best I can with honest critiques. Thanks!

For my first post this is an Egret I captured on July 4th while he was going for a fish lunch. I like the action it shows but I wonder if all of the floaty things in the water detract from the image too much. Heavy cloning or leave it alone? As well as any other observations. Thanks, any comments are appreciated!

Canon 70D
Canon 400mm 5.6
1/5000
f/7.1
ISO 640
HH

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on August 7, 2014 at 9:25 PM

Welcome to NPN Steve. I guarantee you will learn so much. This is a very good start. I really like the frozen water drops. They look three dimensional. The reflection is nice also. For me, the vegetation gives a sense of place. Great first post. Keep em coming.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on August 7, 2014 at 9:47 PM

Hi Steve:

Welcome to NPN. Thanks for joining us and posting in the Avian critique gallery. This is a very nice image. The action is very nice, like the frozen water drops. Composition feels pretty centered and consequently static. Whites look pretty good, but I'm surprised there isn't a bit more feather detail apparent. The 400 f/5.6 is a wonderfully sharp lens.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 7, 2014 at 10:08 PM

An excellent first post, Steve, and welcome to NPN. I like the frozen splash and the detail in the whites looks great. The debris in the water doesn't bother me and I don't think you could remove it all without introducing some processing anomalies. I think you can bring the whites up a bit. I looked at the larger version in photoshop and applied a levels layer. There was quite a bit of room left on the right and when I pulled the slider over to the end of the histogram it added some zing to the image.

I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on August 7, 2014 at 11:37 PM

Hi, Steve. Welcome to NPN Avian. The best place on the Web to learn bird photography. I look forward to your comments and more shots.

Excellent capture. I'd agree with Keith that the bird is just a hair too centered in the shot, and with Dennis that you could bring the whites up. But those nits aside, a really nice first post.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by John Neukirch on August 8, 2014 at 9:01 AM

Welcome Steve! A dynamite first post, good feather detail and sharpness along with the water action makes it an interesting comp. It is unfortunate that the OOF greenery in the FG distracts attention away from the egret, the reflection is such that it might be substantial work to crop the FG but keep the reflection. A nice image none the less.

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments