Great White Heron at Blind Pass

Posted by Heather Forcier on Sat Dec 13, 2003 11:24 pm

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© Heather Forcier, all rights reserved

Great White Heron
Captiva Island, Florida

Can’t help but think of Sandy every time I see a photo of this bird now.

After reviewing lots of images from Bosque I decided to take a break and review some photos taken in Florida during a March trip. I am now so accustomed to processing my Canon 1D files that I had a hard time processing this image from the Nikon D1. Comments on how I have prepared this file (color, sharpening, etc.) appreciated. This was taken in early morning and the bird was so pinkish I tried to tone it down a bit.

I also built a small gallery of select images taken at Bosque for those interested in taking a look! http://www.hforcier.com/trips/bosque2/bosquetrip2.htm

Digital capture with Nikon D1
Sigma 300mm f/2.8 with 1.4x teleconverter
Manually exposed at 1/200, f/4.5
ISO 400
Tripod with Wimberley Sidekick

Image comments/critiques appreciated!

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by Alan Murphy on Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:00 am

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Heather, this is a beautiful image. love the mossy rocks. The whites looks a little hot to me.

Your Bosque stuff is awesome. You have to post that Kestral.

Alan Murphy
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by Bill Whala on Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:46 am

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Heather,

This is a lovely image. I love how the mossy rocks are arranged in the frame.

The Bosque shots are awesome too!!!

Bill Whala

"Aves of similar plumage tend to converge with one another"

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by Mike Wilson on Sun Dec 14, 2003 5:03 am

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Sweet shot of this Heron. Love the light and colors. Your Bosque shots are inspiring. Post the Kestrel please.

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by E.J. Peiker on Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:09 am

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A very different photo of the most photographed White Heron on the planet! The mossy rocks and calm water set this one apart.

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by LHays on Sun Dec 14, 2003 8:03 am

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Heather
I like this one.....the bird and pose are great but it's the habitat that makes it a cut above.

Oh....great Bosque shots. You have to post the kestrel!!!

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by AlexC on Sun Dec 14, 2003 9:02 am

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GBH Mossberg, That's his name if you did not know!!!
I suspect that Sandy paid for his college education in Aquaculture !!

Love the low angle and environment feel of this image, I know this bird as well but did not photographed him!! Congrats!!!

[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
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by Dick Ginkowski on Sun Dec 14, 2003 10:01 am

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Very nice composition indeed. Sharp.

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by Heather Forcier on Sun Dec 14, 2003 10:11 am

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Posted by Alan Murphy
The whites looks a little hot to me.

Hi, Alan! I thought the whites looked a little unusual but when I tested them with a PS eyedropper and with levels, they are actually not above 240 (except maybe a pixel here and there). I wonder if is the effect of really soft light which didn't produce much shadow for definition. Technically I don't think the whites are hot, but I agree I wish the whites had more detail. Is there such a thing as too early for morning light?

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by Sandy Mossberg on Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:00 am

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Heather, a sweet image of one of my closest avian buddies. I may visit him next week.

My take on hot whites is that the visualized detail trumps the numbers. I have had whites at 235 with no detail. Conversely, when 250 is exceeded, rarely is detail seen. Here I can see detail in most of the whites. Perhaps the detail could be greater, but there are several ways of accomplishing that in PS. The new shadow/highlight dialogue may be the simplest way to go.

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by Cliff Beittel on Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:07 am

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Heather Forcier wrote: This was taken in early morning and the bird was so pinkish I tried to tone it down a bit.

Very nice image. The moss adds a lot, though the whites aren't entirely satisfying as posted. Personally, I would never tone down early morning color--might as well sleep in!

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by Jim Zipp on Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:30 am

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Heather Forcier wrote: Is there such a thing as too early for morning light?

Heather, I think the answer is.... sometimes but rarely, and then only under certain conditions and for only a couple of minutes. I have some shots that look plain orange and not good to my eye, and I am a great lover of early morning light. Having said that I don't think your image as posted displays that at all!

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by Carol Clarke on Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:02 pm

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What a beauty!!

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by Jess Lee on Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:33 pm

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Great compositions, I would like to see more detail in the white area but even with today highest technology that is sometimes nearly impossible to achieve. This is a shot I would be proud to have.

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by Heather Forcier on Sun Dec 14, 2003 1:46 pm

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I just checked my images from the same timeframe, and in addition to the early morning light, there was also quite a bit of haze. Subsquent images of this bird work better - the water had a turquoise look to it and although there was still not very much detail in the whites, it seemed to work better visually against a background of less contrast.

The mossy rocks are really what I liked about this image. Guess I will have to go back and try it again in better conditions and hope the GWH is cooperative!

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by Bruce DiVaccaro on Sun Dec 14, 2003 6:20 pm

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Heather,

This is an excellent shot. Love the pose and the wonderful background.

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by BrianS on Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:30 pm

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Beauty and as mentioned the mossy rocks sets this apart -- and oh man the gallery of images from Bosque are really good. You have got to post the Kestrel, I am so jealous and it is the one bird that will have me back there next year.

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by Laura Stiefel on Sun Dec 14, 2003 8:00 pm

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The mossy greens are really lovely here Heather!

I think this is a very nice image of this bird.

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by fredcor on Mon Dec 15, 2003 8:37 am

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I love the green BG and highlights in the water.

Latafat

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by Bill Lockhart on Tue Dec 16, 2003 5:01 pm

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Heather, I love the composition, the wonderful framing that the green moss creates, looks a tad over-exposed, not much, just a tad. Love the effect it creates, it is beautiful to view. Best regards, Bill

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