Tri-colored Heron

[rpk717]

Sorry, but I shoot mostly birds so here is another. I've never posted this shot anywhere, it was shot at the Alligator Farm several years ago using film. What should I have done to improve it?

[debrown]

Robert,
I am hard-pressed to find anything that would improve this shot. The detail is incredible and the sharpness of the eye really makes the shot. Really an excellent capture.

[jckegley]

Great details in the feathers. Nice exposure. I have lots of tri-colored heron photos and all mine appear flat. Nice photo.

[Photobiologist]

From my perspective, the best thing to have done to improve that image would have been to have me standing beside you....:D No nits from me.

[mrsisu]

Well suspect your specifically looking for things (ie using this shot as a potential teaching image) that might improve an already great image which I would love to have myself. SO, I will bite and here goes. Think the image could be stronger if the leaves intruding on the bird at the right lower and at the top of the image on the right were not there. Not sure you could have moved ex. to left and gotten some or all of them out on the bottom right and maintained a good perspective on the bird and guess you could PS out the leaves at the top leaving a potentially clean background? Did you use a flash? Maybe a little flash with power cut back could have added a small catch light in the eye. Think however that this is a very natural image and that I am nit picking. Incredible sharp with lovely feather detail. Think I know this bird!

[rpk717]

Thanks to all for the kind words. No one mentioned the leaves in the top right corner as they do not add anything to the image.

Moving a little to the left would have gotten rid of the blurred leaves on the bottom right but would have introduced a new issue. Birds with long bills need to be shot with the bill parallel with the plane of the film [sensor] unless you really close down on the aperture. If I would have changed the aperture to say f/11 I could have moved to the left and still got the bill in focus but then the background would have been more in focus and a distraction. So all in all I felt like this was the best overall compromise. And to me compromise is always part of nature photography.

[barmstrong]

That is a great shot of a beautiful bird. I agree about the leaves in the upper right but to be honest, I did not even notice them until I read your post. I have much to learn from this group.

[hartfield]

Robert, this is a great shot! I think most people will simply say wow when they see it. However, if you are looking past that, then I think the background is a little busy and distracting. I don’t know how far back the background is, or what aperture you’re shooting at, but if you could have open up a little more the background would have blurred out a little.

As far as the leaves, you may want to try dodging in the post processing to knock the brightness down. That will make them less noticeable and should return the focus back to the bird.

The image is very good, so these suggestions are scrapping the bottom of the barrel. Great job!

David

[rpk717]

I don’t know how far back the background is, or what aperture you’re shooting at, but if you could have open up a little more the background would have blurred out a little.


David
Thanks for the suggestions, but I am a little confused. The background is totally blurred so I'm not sure about it being a distraction, however the foreground could be blurred more with the aperture opened some. Is this what you meant?? The other option would have been to close down and get the foreground sharper.

[hartfield]

Robert,
You know that I love your image and that we are straining at gnats. So please don’t take this as criticism. With an image this good you have to be looking for really small points. Sometimes small points turn out to be a person’s preferences.

The background is blurred, but it has various colors patches that range from white to black to various greens. Most of the times you cannot get the background completely free from hot spots, shadows, or variations of colors, and you probably don’t want to completely remove them if you could. It gives the picture texture. I like the variation of colors, but I also like to get those transitions between the colors as smooth as possible. A wider aperture would make the background a little more blurred which would make the color transitions smoother. This should give the eyes less to wander to and therefore allow the viewer to focus more so on the subject.

You may not prefer this way. If you want to take a look at a “what if” situation, then take this image into Photoshop. Mask off the bird so that it will stay sharp. Apply a strong blur to the background. Then toggle the blur on and off so that you can see the difference.


David

[rpk717]

Ahh, now I understand. Thanks David, I'll give it a try.

Thanks,