Egret in the Garden C&C

[nmoody]

Was at a garden taking pictures when this Egret flew in. It flew over to an area that had a lot of people and children so I rushed over to try and get at least one shot of it before the children scared it away.

It ended up going to an island feature in the middle of a pond which was great because it wouldn't be disturbed and I could try and get some shots without people in them. He stayed for a hour or so and I happily took pictures of him. Other than ducks I really have not been able to take pictures of animals close up so this was such a treat!

Anyways I would love some C&C on these. You don't need to go easy on me, I wont learn that way. Exif data are in the photo's if it helps with diagnosing my problems.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Thanks in advance!

 

[nmoody]

Any comments good or bad would be great! I know some of you surely have something to say, so bring it!

 

[coastalconn]

OK, I will share a few thoughts, of course, these are just my humble opinions. First of all great job on the sharpness. It looks like whites are pretty well controlled and a very good amount of feather detail. I love egrets and have spent too many hours chasing them around. Exif info looks good also. Low ISO, good shutter speed, good DOF

I personally do not like "man made" elements mixed in with wildlife, so 1 and 5 don't really work for me. Also number 5 has no eye contact which I also like.

#2 is my favorite in the set, I think a tighter crop might help the composition, by cropping the lawn in the upper left hand corner. I think the reflections of the rocks are lovely.

#3 I would like to see less crop (more space) on the left hand side to give the perception that the egret is staring at something, if that makes sense.

#4 is also very good but I would like to see the whole back of the bird.

I try to shoot a little wide so I have room to crop for composition (rule of thirds)

Remember just my humble opinion.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

I almost love #3 and #4.... the crop is too tight for my taste though......

 

[Rick58]

4 nailed it...except... I'd like to see the crown of it's back and that one darn wing feather is cut off. Strange, that wing feather cropped off bugs me, but its a great shot. Nice Job!

 

[EricD]

Nice exposure on the whites!

 

[nmoody]

OK, I will share a few thoughts, of course, these are just my humble opinions. First of all great job on the sharpness. It looks like whites are pretty well controlled and a very good amount of feather detail. I love egrets and have spent too many hours chasing them around. Exif info looks good also. Low ISO, good shutter speed, good DOF

I personally do not like "man made" elements mixed in with wildlife, so 1 and 5 don't really work for me. Also number 5 has no eye contact which I also like.

#2 is my favorite in the set, I think a tighter crop might help the composition, by cropping the lawn in the upper left hand corner. I think the reflections of the rocks are lovely.

#3 I would like to see less crop (more space) on the left hand side to give the perception that the egret is staring at something, if that makes sense.

#4 is also very good but I would like to see the whole back of the bird.

I try to shoot a little wide so I have room to crop for composition (rule of thirds)

Remember just my humble opinion.

coastalconn, thank you so much for breaking the ice.

It sounds like I got too excited with how close I could get to the Egret and how sharp it was a 300mm that I didn't pay enough attention to composition. All these pictures are not cropped with the exception of #2 so I will need to find other ones that I took to take it back a little. I did take hundreds of pictures of the Egret so after I am done going through the comments I will try and find a few that go along with your feedback.

Again thanks so much!

 

[nmoody]

I almost love #3 and #4.... the crop is too tight for my taste though......

BuS_RiDeR, thanks for the comments!

I will see if I can find some ones that are not too closely cropped. I fear that #4 I may not have a shot farther away of but I think I do for #3.

 

[nmoody]

4 nailed it...except... I'd like to see the crown of it's back and that one darn wing feather is cut off. Strange, that wing feather cropped off bugs me, but it a great shot. Nice Job!

Rick58, I was also pleased with 4 and wish I got more of his back in, I didn't see the feather before but now that I do I totally agree.

Thanks for the help.

 

[nmoody]

Nice exposure on the whites!

EricD thank, lighting was harsh so I am glad you like the exposure on the whites.

 

[nmoody]

Here is a tighter crop of #2

Here is a tighter crop of an image like #3. Its stride is not as good looking in this one but it does have the whole body.

Here is a tighter crop of an image like #4. I don't like this one as much as the I enjoyed the head being horizontal. But I agree its so much nicer to see more of the Egret

Am I going in the right direction with these?

 

[coastalconn]

Much improved! 1 is better. 3 is great. 2 is ok. I try to capture all of the legs if I can. I think starting on the 2nd maybe 3rd page of my flicker I have many egret shots if you want to take a look for ideas...

 

[nmoody]

Thanks for the help coastalconn. You pictures are great! Thanks for pointing them out to me. I have a few more idea's now for the next time.

Anyone else have any feedback?