A heron in flight

Wowee - well caught! Nice and sharp and in a beautiful position.
I wonder is the background could be toned down a bit to be less distracting.

Hi WG

Nice capture indeed.

I personally wouldn't edit it though. I think people are too quick to edit every single picture they take.
I like this one because, it is what it is. It's really tricky to get nice shots of birds in flight, which is why you see so many shots of birds sitting on fence posts or bird feeders. You have much more control over the focus and dof when you know exactly where the bird is, especially if he sits still long enough.
But capturing a perfectly exposed, pin sharp image of a bird in flight with a beautiful bokeh is something else entirely, and my cap is well and truly doffed to those who can do it.

Nice capture WG

Thanks for your favourable comments Mande', I've purposely not overeditted this or try not to on any of my pics. I think that if the picture isn't taken correctly in the first instance then no amount of photoshopping will make it a great or even good pic. I just have to go back out and try and get the best pic of the subject that I can, I've spent hours on this computer trying to oversaturate/overedit pics and they look just awful.
Anyway I used my 300mm lens with the IS control set to on and tried to follow the Heron across the pond until it flew off to the top pond.
Here's another example - I don't know if it's better than my first one -

I don't think it needs heavy PP. It is a lovely image.
The only bit that is bothering me is the branches by the head.
If it were mine, I would want to darken that branch that is just in front of the beak. As it follows the same line as the beak I'm finding it a distraction.

Good point little me I'll have another go at tidying up the backgrounds - cheers
Sorry about the quality but this was set at ISO 1600 - the light was a bit poor

Here's another Heron shot hardly photoshopped (haven't got ps but because I have an iMac I use Aperture 2)


Do you think the background is a bit distracting on this one?, Thanks for all your comments....

Nice shots WG

I can see both viewpoints - but think they work in their own ways either way too

Stunning shot WG

All excellent shots, on the last one I would crop and add a small black border, this further lifts the image from the background IMV.

Jeff