Egret in the mist

[Gerald Kelberg]

Diffused early morning light was peeking through the trees to shine a spotlight on this Egret hunting in the mist. I particularly liked the effect of the mist on the water and the background mix of light and shade.

Image was made with the Sony A9II using the FE 200-600 at 600 mm. Shutter at 1/1600 sec at f/6.3, ISO 3200. Using Zebras to avoid blowing the white bird in the darker scene.

Minimal post production - LrC with some Enhance NR and sharpening, set black point. Ejected a couple of distracting background stalks.

Your thoughts and comments warmly welcomed.

Gerald

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gerald, cool image with a nice etherial/dreamy look & feel. I also like the 'wider' aspect which a zoom offers, but think going for a 16x10 format might be a better option, generating a tad more space below too, creating a RoT's. Having a darker FG adds a bit more depth and a slightly cleaner white for the subject (optional) adds a bit more Pop IMHO Gerald. At SS the subject does need some more sharpening.

TFS
Steve

 

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very nice indeed, Iike as presented, exposure looks good. the egret appears sharp enough (to me).. I guess the egeret was relatively still so 1/1600 sec sounds pretty fast.

 

[Gerald Kelberg]

Thanks both for your input. Looking again at the aspect ratio is a good idea, albeit I view all my shots on a 16:9 monitor. I had intentionally ignored the temptation to go RoT, but anything is possible. I will look again at the sharpening, but I want to avoid having the egret too crunchy in such a soft misty background.

Much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Steve Kaluski]

I view all my shots on a 16:9 monitor.

Don't let it become a straight jacket Gerald, view your images in their entirety, otherwise you could be doing both the subject and yourself an injustice.

I want to avoid having the egret too crunchy in such a soft misty background.

If the correct amount is applied then it will just blend in nicely and not appear crunchy.

 

[Ian McLachlan]

The more I lookout it the more I like it. It has nice mood about it , Not sure about the sharpening.I like the frame showing the bird looking far into the distance ..Veyr nice

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gerald ... what a great moody image , love it !!!!
Only thing i might change is the grain or noise removal , too obvious for my personal taste ... i am always struggling with the foggy images to get rid of the noise . So far i have not get my head around the fact , that foggy images are very noisy ??!!!

Nice work mate


TFS Andreas

 

[Narayanan Mangalath]

Beautiful picture ! I love the dreaminess. I love how the grass in the background is briefly lit just to emphasize its presence I also like that the background is infinity and not stopping immediately at the bushes.

I love the look of the bird to the distance. The fog made sure the water is not too shiny that helped to make sure it is not distracting the viewer from the main subject.

Wondering what is RoT.

 

[William Dickson]

Love this one Gerald. The mood of the image immediately drew my attention. Only thing I would change is adding some canvas to the bottom.

Well done.

Will

 

[William Dickson]

Wondering what is RoT.

Rule of Thirds Narayanan

 

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love this quite a bit! Quite the appealing atmosphere you got here. Clicking the image to its intended posting size I see no issue with the sharpening. For the repost, what did I do, and what do you think about it?

 

[Ian McLachlan]

You took out the distractions on the top right and lessoned the impact of the reflection. Good . And 'mistified' the B/G slightly---non? . Both improving an excellent original image and bringing the bird further to the fore. ?

 

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes on the distractions top right. But I did nothing else.

 

[Ian McLachlan]

It did the job .A nice simple change.

 

[Gerald Kelberg]

Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to comment on the image and work with the image. I found the comments particularly helpful. Much appreciated.

The attached file is the frame immediately before - saving making a virtual copy - to work the very similar image differently, bearing in mind the suggestions made. the biggest difference is that I used Photo AI for noise reduction, doing the background and subject separately. A little more NR on the background has taken most of the graininess out of the mist and less NR on the subject has helped with the detail. Also sharpened the subject lightly in Photo AI. Graduated masks top and bottom darkening the blacks.

I hope you like it!

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to comment on the image and work with the image. I found the comments particularly helpful. Much appreciated.

The attached file is the frame immediately before - saving making a virtual copy - to work the very similar image differently, bearing in mind the suggestions made. the biggest difference is that I used Photo AI for noise reduction, doing the background and subject separately. A little more NR on the background has taken most of the graininess out of the mist and less NR on the subject has helped with the detail. Also sharpened the subject lightly in Photo AI. Graduated masks top and bottom darkening the blacks.

I hope you like it!

View attachment 230790

Does look better IMHO ... Gerald

Cheers Andreas

 

[Arthur Morris]

I like all the versions. A bit more on the bottom would not hurt as long as the reflection does not become too distorted...

with love, a

 

[yogesh_puranik]

Repost is superb. Overall image is really great and when printed will also look good. Give it a try.

 

[Gabriela Plesea]

Repost looks lovely Gerald, and overall a beautiful image of this bird in stunning environment, love the mood you have managed to portray and I agree with Artie just a tad more at the bottom would be beneficial, if you have it. Thank you so much for sharing!

Kind regards,
Gabriela