Great Blue Heron - Courtship and Nest Building

RADTEC1 asked me to post the first photo in "Critique Corner". The second is the next in sequence and together they tell a story.

Both were taken at sunrise. I was in the dark on the ground and the birds were in a tree in the early morning sun. 1DM2, 500/8.0, ISO 1600.

Please comment, thanx.

Wow, great shots!

Dan

Very, very nice! Whose photos are these?

The shots ARE fantastic. It seems as though there is a different color cast on this post compared to the post in the Share section. Is that true.

Though I love the poses, the shot seems uncomfortabaly over sharpened. Did you use any post processing sharpening, if so, what? You might want to reprocess with a little less. Also, what lens (tele?) did you use and how much of a crop is it. Perhaps that's what I am seeing.

Anyway, great catch!


Rad

Fantastic shot!! The lines and curves are magnificent. This would make an lovely sillouette. I especially like the second one where they connect thus making their necks into a lovely series of curves. Well done to capture this image.

Love the improvement here in lighting and backgraound.. makes them 100%
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=132822

Top notch work,.. can't find anything to critique.

So I am gathering that RadTech convinced you that you should post these here. Thought maybe you were posting these for him...Seemed kinda odd.

I don't find these over-sharpened. These are some of the best Blue Heron shots I have seen. Good job!!

Thanks for the positive comments guys. I took these at Wakodahatchee Wetlands last weekend. I applied a little USM on the lightness layer in lab color. I cropped the shots to 8x10 keeping the height almost the same.

I am glad yall liked them. If nobody commented I could always blame it on RadTech.

I'm an old film guy just converted to digital a few years back and still learning camera raw and photoshop. (I sometimes think my photoshop program hates me)

Have two more Blue Heron shots I will post in Nature tomorrow then I'm done.

Thanks again.

A rather brilliant one-two punch. The shots are wonderful on their own, but in tandem they're something special. In the first image, the primary heron's crest is splayed outward, along with the feathers along the base of it's neck. The secondary bird's neck-feathers are still somewhat limp and droop down. In the second shot, once the birds have made contact, the crest on the main bird has fallen, but the neck-feathers on the other bird have now risen to match the other. Dramatic nature captured well. Good work.

Very striking images and perfectly timed. There is a starkness to these that make them compelling to look at. I would never have guessed the conditions toy took them in. On my screen they look splendid. What you captured is so good that if I went nit picing I think I would be doing so just for the sake of it.
As good as it gets.

Exquisite!
"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
...
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons."
--Song of Solomon