Heron in flight

Paul Iddon

My attempt at trying to get a bird in flight - namely a heron, at Pennington Flash near Wigan:


Exif:

Camera Maker: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 70D
Lens: 150-500mm
Image Date: 2014-02-11 13:59:45 +0000
Focal Length: 500mm
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
ISO equiv: 200
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
Creator: Paul Iddon
Copyright: Paul Iddon - A View of the UK




Paul.

Stumblebum

Brilliant Paul!

Maybe your best yet! You nailed the eye and most important part is sharp and the wings show blur which works as it is motion. The light/reflection of water makes it delicate and beautiful! The pattern on the neck! The background is fabulous too!

I am wondering though, since its face is sharp as a tack, is there opportunity to get even closer with further cropping?

Cheers!

Paul Iddon

Thanks Stumble.

It will take more crop but then my editing skills (or lack of them) would become more evident...


Paul.

puzzledpaul

I'd say mission /attempt was successful, Paul

Bg makes a nice change from the usual blue sky and a bit of wing blur is equivalent to prop / rotor blur on aircraft / choppers imo - a positive.

After santa brought me an inexpensive (but decent) tablet* for the Dec consumer fest, I've been cropping appropriate pics to 16:9 HD format ... I think this'd work well for this, too ... don't alter the width, just a bit off top / bottom - so editing skills won't be an issue

No idea how keen you are to continue with heron pics, but for the last week of so, I've dumped the low level gear as I've also been trying to get half decent heron bifs ... mainly 'log in gob' shots, whilst they're collecting nesting material. It's a fairly narrow window of opportunity, so might be worth considering?
(got 3 shots that admirably demonstrate the pitfalls ... 2 with branch obscuring prominent eye ... and 1 with eye shut ... hey ho ... )

Since you're prepared to 'get rid of stuff' ... I'd suggest the stick + reflection is a prime candidate ?

pp


* used as a mobile gallery for (older, mainly) ppl who see me at venue, ask what am doing, but don't have net access.

Stumblebum

puzzledpaul wrote: »

I'd say mission /attempt was successful, Paul

After santa brought me an inexpensive (but decent) tablet* for the Dec consumer fest, I've been cropping appropriate pics to 16:9 HD format ... I think this'd work well for this, too ... don't alter the width, just a bit off top / bottom - so editing skills won't be an issue

That's what I thought too....it is merely cropping, no additional tricks!

Paul Iddon

I did have a play - the crop works fine but I just couldn't get the post to totally disappear.


Paul.