Tri-colored Heron with juv Skipjack

[Noel Heustis]

• Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 (Windows)

This Tri-colored Heron was photographed on the morning of November 2 at Fort Desoto park using the Canon 7D mark ii and the Canon 100-400mm IS ii handheld. I had been watching the heron hunt in the shallows and after catching a few scaled sardines, he caught a skipjack. This was taken at the end of a morning session when the Sun had already started to get higher in the sky.

ISO 200
AV f/5.6
TV 1/3200
Focal Length 248mm
Manual Exposure / AI Servo / Manual select large zone AF middle zone / Rear Button Focus
The AF points were focused on the neck.

The image was processed in DPP4 and PScc. Below is a short rundown of what I did to process:

1) I added a bit of canvas to the left of the original composition as I had barely any room behind the bird
2) used the NIK detail extractor and light contrast on the bird and fish to bring out a slight bit more detail

This was my second try at resizing using PS instead of LR (not sure if I got this part correct yet). Sharpened a bit post resize.

Thanks for taking a look.

 

[Arthur Morris]

Neat bird and fish. Head angle one degree away Sharp, with a good EXP but maybe a bit too crunchy ... Biggest problem? Too tight overall especially below where you have cut off the virtual rear foot. Once again you would have done much better zooming out bit When are you gonna learn not to be so greedy???

with love, artie

ps: the two BKGR breaking waves worked out well by framing the bird's head.

 

[Tim Foltz]

Noel, nice Tricolored. A few nits… needs more room on the bottom and left, Artie's right it does look a bit crunchy, nice addition with the fish though.

-Tim

 

[Noel Heustis]

Thank you for taking the time to take a look and comment. I tried reworking it to add a bit more canvas behind the bird and to the bottom. I made a total mess of it . I think the lesson here is to get it right in the camera. I'll try to be more mindful of the composition and include the virtual parts you can't see in future shots. I agree it looks crunchy after looking at it again and comparing it to the original. The great news is...I'm pretty sure I can find that bird hunting fish again.