Egret in the brush

[joemags]

This is another one from my trip to Florida a few weeks ago. I like the shot but I'm having some difficultly with the weeds on the left in front of the bird. What do you all think? I'm pretty sure this is an Egret but any correction or additional info on the ID would be appreciated.

Thanks for looking,
Joe Mags

[paulnj]

welcome to one of the hardest wading bird ID's... it's not a great egret or cattle egret

i think this is a juvenile little blue heron or juvenile snowy egret, but it could be a young white morph reddish egret too.... leg/ foot color would sum it up!

all three occur in the loxahatchee area and would look just like this at this time of year.... GRRRR

as for the image..... environmentals are great in my book!!!! the only thing that i find slightly distracting is the blades of grass intersecting the bill

if you have more of this bird(or any) post them and i'll ID them the best i can

[gahspidy]

This is nice,Joe. Looks like an Egret to me. I like the soft white color of the bird and it is sharp enough to be satisfying. I don't think the weeds are to big an issue. It kind of looks like you caught this beautiful creature hiding. Keeps it interesting, to me. Good that the water in the background is blurred and not distracting. I would only say that I think you could get a tighter crop out of this. By the way would be interested in the lens and settings if you could. Nice.

[Paul Wolf]

Excellent shot, Joe. It is sharp and I think well composed. I would definitely clear some of the weeds from around his beak. Have you tried using the clone stamp in PhotoShop? That's the only suggestion I would have. It may be a bit tricky because it's pretty busy in there, but just blend it with the blurred background, and it should work well.

The other comment I would have is that some of the white appears over exposed, but this is something I'm having a great deal of trouble with myself. I suspect an ND filter of some sort may help. I'm always frustrated that the majority of my shots do not show well exposed, detailed plummage over the entire bird. Maybe others have some tips for us?

Paul

[joemags]

Thanks to all for the feedback and suggestions and especially the ID info. I agree with you Paul. it seems almost impossible to get a good exposure over an entire white bird. I always seem to have at least one hot spot. I'm sorry I forgot to post the technicals. Here they are.

EOS 1V
Sigma 300mm with 1.4x converter
Tripod
f 5.6 approx 1/500 second
Kodak HD400

Thanks again,
Joe Mags

[gahspidy]

I think if you use the spot meter in your camera( assuming it has) as opposed to the evaluative meter, it would give you the right exposure of your subject, especially easy since your subject is centered in the frame. If it were way off center(out of the spot meter sensor) you would just meter the subject,lock the exposure reading, and then recompose the shot.

[teddeady]

Very nice shot of a lovely egret. I like the crispness of the foreground and the softness of the slightly blurred water in the background. Nice balance. I'm glad you didn't crop it tighter. I think that would have made it less interesting. Did you use a filter?

[joemags]

Thanks for the comments.
Just the standard UV filter that I keep in this lens almost all the time.
Take Care,
Joe Mags