A Tennessee Egret

[HorseRtist]

[Brownbear]

Beautiful image of a beautiful egret...

[HorseRtist]

Thank you so much Christina.

[Digital]

Really nice photograph. I like the action of the water.


Bruce

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Jo - and welcome to the CiC forums.

This is, as others have said, a nice image, I too like the 'water action', it says much of the context of the shot.
I assume in the sea with waves like that, but perhaps a large lake - everything is bigger in the states
But then I am used to seeing Egrets in (UK) rivers or lakes where there aren't any waves!

As you're new, I will justify/explain my following comments in that I am trying to help you achieve even better results 'next time', not simply to be negative.

The most obvious issue (confirmed by the histogram) is that it appears to be over exposed, whether that was during capture or during PP (Post Processing), I don't know.

I also don't know whether the original is RAW or jpg - nor what level of PP expertise you have, but I'd struggle to put a as you have, that's mainly because

Regarding the thin blue border (stroke?) around edge; I (personally) am not sure this adds much to the image, given that it is brighter and more saturated than any blue in the image.

You may find this guidance helpful for making the most of critique here at CiC;
How to Get Effective Feedback for your Posted Images

It saves us a lot of guessing and allows us to give more 'targeted' advice if we know a few things about the shot.

All the best,

[Brownbear]

Hi Jo,

I forgot to say welcome to the CIC forums.

After reading Dave's post and looking at your beautiful image of that egret again, I agree with Dave that the exposure on the body of the egret could be a bit lower to allow for more detail to be seen. Still beautiful!

PS I've learned a lot from Dave and other members of this forum...

[HorseRtist]

Thank you so much, Bruce. I think I liked the water better than the bird!

[HorseRtist]

Thank you Dave. There's a lot I need to learn. I am an artist so, even though I was a film shooter for many years, I am far more comfortable with some paint and a paintbrush. Digital just boggles my mind. Art, horses, gardening & cooking take so much of my time, finding time to get out and shoot is a chore but I hope as I learn, I will want to do a lot more of that.
Thank you so much. I will indeed strive to learn.