Egret

[Barbara Ponder]

CC welcomed and appreciated

[cuilin]

good poses in both, i like that you've captured the egret in flight in the first. the first one feels a little dark, even the white on the egret looks like it could be brightened a bit more.

[Barbara Ponder]

Beth, thanks. It was really overcast today and I think I should have raised my ISO. I think I pushed the exposer as high as I could on my Aperture software and wasn't sure how else to lighten. PP is not my strong suit

[GBO25]

Maybe the first one could use a little brightness but the bird itself is nicely exposed with good feather detail and the composition has it flying into the shot which is spot on.
The second shot has lost some detail in the highlights although I think if you shot in raw you could get it back. Very nice eye contact in the second image as well.

[Shadowman]

Nice captures.

[Barbara Ponder]

Thanks Graham.

[NorthernFocus]

Barbara, you composition is really excellent and you clearly have opportunities available with the wading birds. If you work on your techs you have the potential to produce some stunning imagery. My first recommendation is to start shooting a much wider aperture setting. It will help both with exposure and will blur the BG to isolate the subject. Even with large birds in flight, f5.6 is typically adequate to keep the wingtips within the DOF.

Don't shun the overcast days. Flat lighting is much easier for shooting wildlife. Granted thin overcast is preferable as it is much brighter. But shooting white birds in clear sunlight can be a real challenge.

[Ndukes]

Lovely images, Barbara.
There is a small but increasing population here in Ireland. I'll have to watch out for them here.

[IzzieK]

Like Dan, I agree with him about your compositions. They are really great. Love these two...especially #2 here in this post. The whites you have captured very well here...

[bnnrcn]

Hi Barbara I love the compositions and the whiteness of the birds. You might try some noise reduction with PP though.

[Downrigger]

Pretty images - well done, and some nice pointers about them in this thread. Like Binnur I see perhaps more noise than you wanted in the first and wonder if it is from the brightening in PP, and suspect it is amenable to correction in PP as well.

[Barbara Ponder]

Thanks Izzie, Binnur, Mark, Neville and Dan. I think I have solved the noise problem. While shooting when I was resetting my focus point I inadvertently moved compensation to -3. This made the image VERY dark so I had to brighten in PP. I have just posted my shots form yesterday which I think are better. Thanks again for all the comments!

[cuilin]

Thanks Izzie, Binnur, Mark, Neville and Dan. I think I have solved the noise problem. While shooting when I was resetting my focus point I inadvertently moved compensation to -3. This made the image VERY dark so I had to brighten in PP. I have just posted my shots form yesterday which I think are better. Thanks again for all the comments!

that would do it.

[chauncey]

Beth, thanks. It was really overcast today and I think I should have raised my ISO. I think I pushed the exposer as high as I could on my Aperture software and wasn't sure how else to lighten. PP is not my strong suit

You don't mention your gear or camera settings...most time with "in flight white birds" I shoot f/4, a little
over 1000 SS, and no more than ISO 200. A tripod mounted long lens comes in handy as well.

Learning PP is essential to cover minor screw-ups with exposure.