This image is of a Great Blue Heron that has captured a Greater Siren for its meal. The Greater Siren is a unique amphibian with only two small front legs and no back legs and lives in Southern fresh water marshes and swamps. Younger ones have both gills and poorly developed lungs for breathing. The one in this image is about a maximum size. During periods of drought they are able to bury themselves in mud for as long as 3 years in order to survive.
Processed on Camera Raw, cropped and a few minor adjustments. I did some dodging on the Siren trying to lessen the blacks and giving some definition to it.
Grabbed my wife's camera as my camera was packed away. Canon Rebel SR1, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec, ISO 1000, 70 - 300mm lens @ 300mm. Shot on a very cloudy day.
9 comments posted
Judith Lesnaw
SPECTACULAR! The detail and colors on the bird AND that eye are wonderful. The bright green grass on the left pulls my attention a bit, I would tone it down. I was not familiar with the Siren. What a fascinating creature. Thank you for introducing us. Posted: 02/10/2025 21:19:32
Tom Brott
I did tone down the green stalks in the background a bit from your and Sharon's comments. Please review the redone image in my response to Sharon. Posted: 02/14/2025 01:56:37
Tom Brott
I debated about the green but like to keep images as natural as possible and felt I had already edited too much. I know more liberties are acceptable in the category Nature Plus but I like keeping it to a minimum. This makes it easier to choose images for club and PSA competitions. Posted: 02/10/2025 23:06:41
Sharon Prislipsky
Welcome back to Group 52, Tom. I think this is another of the great nature stories you typlically capture. I appreciate your adherence to the reality of the scene and doing minimal post processing. The Nature Division allows minor adjustment in exposure, so I am thinking you might take this down about a half a stop and still meet the definition. I agree with Judith about the green, but I think a simple decrease in green liminance might do the trick. To me it is a strong image and should do well in Nature competitions. Posted: 02/12/2025 15:14:05
Tom Brott
Happy to be back. I followed Group 52 quite regularly.
Is this any better with the greens? Posted: 02/14/2025 01:49:34
Sharon Prislipsky
Yes, I think that helps. Somewhere I learned that green is the easiest color for the human eye to detect so I always lower the green saturation and luminence to make it less distrating. Posted: 02/14/2025 18:30:35
Polly Krauter
Welcome to #52 Tom! Excellent action image with a good eye. You have inspired me to learn about Sirens. The only comment I have is consider applying Denoise to the background, it looks a bit pixilated on my screen. Posted: 02/12/2025 19:40:58
Tom Brott
Thank you for the welcome.
I did run the image through Topaz Denoise after processing and think it might be the heavy grass textures in the background that make it look pixelated. Posted: 02/14/2025 01:53:50
Ally Green
Welcome to our group Tom! Thank you for introducing us to the Sirens…and a nice capture with great detail too. The crop is perfect allowing focus on the Blue Heron's eye. Nice and sharp with good detail in the feathers. The toned down version of the greens better to me. Nicely done. Posted: 02/16/2025 16:23:31
