January 10, 2026
ISO 125
f/6.3
1/1250 sec. exposure
-0.3 step exposure bias
100-400 mm lens at 400 mm
I liked the water dripping off this bird's beak, but unfortunately, the wind, ripples, and other disturbances in the water also have disturbed the reflection. Is that too distracting? I could work on cleaning up the disruption to the beak, since I can't use this as a nature image anyway since I've removed the very bright feather to the left that I felt competed too much with the subject. But the water droplet itself probably isn't enough "action" to be a good nature story anyway. But is the background here too distracting for a pictorial image? I'm not quite certain how I feel about it, so I'd appreciate your thoughts.
4 comments posted
Stephen Levitas
The water drop is a delicate touch. I have never seen something like that before, so you get credit for a good and creative eye. The delicacy of the water drop contrasts in my mind with recent images in other groups of herons swallowing frogs whole. Posted: 04/09/2026 20:48:30
Tom McCreary
You have really good separation with the bird from the background. The background does not bother me. I like some ripples in the water as to me it makes it look more natural. The small bubble on the water as Stephen mentioned is very interesting. It is more evident in the color image but I am not sure how to bring it out in the monochrome. I do like the colors in the original image. Posted: 04/16/2026 20:02:56
Wes Odell
The ripples separate the water from the background. Without the sep, it would look like a bird on a piece of paper. IMO, as Tom says, "it looks more natural."
I used the Black eye dropper on the bird's eye and no change. I used the White Eye Dropper on some belly feathers and it lightened the image nicely. I was unable to move it in here, but it may be worth a try. Posted: 04/16/2026 21:39:36
Diana Magor
I like both the colour and the mono versions. I agree that the feather is better removed so no good for nature unfortunately. The water drop is great but for some reason the bubble on the drop that has already landed seems to disappear in the mono one. The detail of the plumage is fine and the reflection is good too. I would expect it to be ruffled and the circular lines help to keep the eye on the bird. Good one! Posted: 04/17/2026 09:48:30
