processing question

Fee's comments on my shot on the Green Heron (Hi5-heron style) started me wondering - this was my original shot (just re-sized and saved for web) - how would anyone else have processed it? I'm really curious, because I struggle on with this by myself, flying by the seat of my pants, so to speak.

I should add - it was shot in RAW and minimally adjusted in that conversion, but other than that, this is the original before I cropped and tinkered with it.

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The color, saturation, exposure, sharpness look great on my monitor. I would crop a little (maybe 30% ~ 40%) to place the heron slightly on the left. Habitat usually gives a wildlife photo some flavor.

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I like Fee's idea. However, I might adjust it up just a tad so the bird is a little lower in the frame. Just my personal preference.

I try to leave quite a bit of room for habitat in the direction the bird is facing.

i agree with cfc and go with the crop too
Rob.

And I'd rotate the image so that the water's surface is horizontal.

Keith R wrote in post #1998346
And I'd rotate the image so that the water's surface is horizontal.

I agree with you.

I agree with the comments above. Cropping seems like the main thing to do, although I'd keep one uncropped too just for the nice environment. Post-processing is the hardest part of the photography process! But you got that one pretty much right on out of the camera IMO.

thanks everyone! Back to the drawing board.