I need critique on this canal photo

[gking]

I came upon this scene and decide to shoot without tripod.
The drastic contrast of dark and bright light on the heron gave me trouble.
Since I was far from the bird, I used at 210mm zoom, 100 ISO to keep better quality.
I am not very unhappy with the results but I am sure I could improve on it.
Please tell me what would you do. Thanks.

[Stutterbug]

was going to play with it a bit and crop it up but you have image editing turned off. I think if you got closer and kept the top third of the picture and took a few steps right so the branch wasn't in the shot you would have a better picture. I had a hard time noticing the bird in till someone pointed it out the first time you posted this.

[tonydee]

I would imagine the bird's completely blown even if shot in RAW. That's life - those birds are such a pain and you really need to underexpose everything else to capture them. Good to review your image - keep tapping the "display" button until overexposed bits flash. Compositionally, I'm indifferent. The reflection of the tree is vaguely interesting, but as much as it can be a lead in line it can also draw the eye down and out. The point the tree meets the water is obfuscated by some foreground branches and some manner of black stump. The bird is a bit closer to the tree than desirable, leaving the right side of the image very empty. I do like the hues in the water, but there's not a lot to look at for long other than the tree and bird's "inverse silohouette". You might try cropping the bottom half out, tightening it up a bit. Cheers, Tony

[gking]

I didn't realize that I had the image editing off. I just turned it ON.
I was standing on a bridge over the canal. I could not get any closer other than using the zoom as I did.
I will experiment with your suggestions. Keep them coming, that is how we can get to create better photos.