Great Egret in mating plumage at Venice Rookery, Venice, FL. Canon Elan IIE, 300L/4.0 IS with 1.4 APO, exposure 1/500, F8.

-- Robert Pailes (rpailes@peganet.com), November 09, 1998

Answers

-- Robert Pailes (rpailes@peganet.com), November 09, 1998.

I like this shot, however, I think it would be better square. I also think the background green blobs take away from an otherwise stylish white on black background.

-- Paul Lenson (lenson@pci.on.ca), November 09, 1998.

well, robert, you must peruse "fishing egret", just a few posts back, to see why i must say that you have a long way to go in egret photography.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), November 09, 1998.

Folks, I must say I am a little taken aback by Wayne's somewhat abrupt critique. I wanted opinions, now I really want opinions. If you visit, please submit a response.

As with many postings, this one could have done with a much better scan. The black blobs in the background are not present in the slide. I've only had twenty images scanned, and most gained so much contrast, 5.0 almost couldn't correct them.

Wayne, I Do appreciate your comments, although I must say that with such an abrupt statement, I would expect some specifics. Besides a little contrast, what is wrong with this image that I should take your advice and start over?

-- Robert Pailes (rpailes@peganet.com), November 10, 1998.

Robert..you must excuse Wayne for his rude comment..he is just another arm-chair photographer that seems to throw his less than helpful comments into these image critique pages which has little to do with the subject! All I can say to Wayne is show or blow!...As for your shot Robert...its a good shot of the Egret in flight..for the most part the image is properly exposed, in focus and relatively sharp...which is a challenge with autofocus slowed down to only 65% of its speed...the only really big problem you had was shooting during the afternoon and thus making the image to contrasty..of course nothing to be done about that!...I've been to that location and its a great spot to work if you can get there in the golden light. What would I do to make this image better?..Id shoot more towards the evening or morning, maybe take the 1.4 off which gives me +1 stop of light and faster autofocus thus showing a little more habitat and giving me more of a choice in framing. As far as an award winning photo, its a little off the mark, but with practice youll be shooting with the best of them!..Thanks for sharing.

-- Brian Knight (tnswtc@top.net), November 10, 1998.

I think you've captured a really nice moment of the egret in flight here. Good composition. I'm sure that photographing this bird in flight is a challenge. I agree with Brian that Wayne's comment was rude and totally inappropriate. Brian's comments about lighting and other technical aspects sound like good suggestions.

-- Barbara Kelly (kellys@alaska.net), November 11, 1998.

I appreciated your image. After reading Wayne's comment, I went and found the egret picture he mentioned (to contrast the two images.)

Of the two images, I prefer only the exposure and sharpness of the image he mentioned. Your composition speaks volumes towards how awesome and elegant these birds are. I think the framing/cropping of your photo is definitely superior to the one Wayne mentioned.

The green background blobs don't bother me, but the strange dark vertical variations/striping within them does... (the scan?)

Seems the "long way to go" which Wayne mentions only refers to saving up for that fast 400/2.8 "L" lens so you can drop the teleconverter and really throw the background.

-- mike clemens (mike@eagleriver.com), November 16, 1998.

I'll leave the technical on this one to others, but I do wish to indulge in one "fluff" comment: I love the way you've captured the bird from that particular angle, shows all the grace of a ballet dancer.

-- Rose-Marie Burke (rmbehr@istar.ca), November 21, 1998.

First of all, I'll comment on this image first, *then* look at the other egret. Each image deserves to be judged on its own merits. I think the bird's 'pose' is stunning. The twig in its beak adds great interest because it's a picture of the bird *doing* something.

Technical: The "+" out-of -focus highlights are distracting; is this a scanning/ sharpening/compression artifact or is it on the film?

I'd try to print the photo with gentler contrast if possible; the color contrast is more than enough to provide textural information.

This image has great strength of movement in the direction of flight. I'd crop the top and bottom, perhaps even to a 3:2 aspect ratio. But then I really like the 35 mm aspect ratio.

To Wayne: if you have criticisms, make them specific and detailed. Your criticisms provide no insights that might lead to actual improvement, and are for this reason useless.

-- Alexey Merz (alexey@webcom.com), December 21, 1998.