Boscawen Heron
Mark Quilter
A chance encounter, walking around the pond in Boscawen Park one evening. Heron sat on a tree branch on the island in the lake. Knowing how quickly it might fly off, I grabbed the first shot, as soon as I saw it.
Nikon 100-400mm, at 400mm, 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250. I was very aware that the background was a bit cluttered and that the light was better from another angle.
Subtle repositioning, to my right, along the path, allowed me to find a better cleaner composition, with framing foliage and a nicely lit background bush. Same camera settings.
Main tweaks in Lightroom:
· Mild crop to align beak on top third and to emphasise the framing foliage.
· Exposure +0.40, Contrast +11, Shadows +21, Highlights -18, Vibrance +18, to brighten bird against background
· Mask 1, select subject (heron), Exposure +44, Contrast +9, Shadows +37, Texture and Clarity +20, Sharpness +40, Noise reduction 33. This boosts the details of the subject helping to separate it from the background. Gave a loft to brightness of beak.
· Mask 2, background, Exposure -0.1, Highlights -9, Clarity and Dehaze -9, Sharpness -6. All serving to develop the hazy affect on the background and to give softer bokeh.
· Overall, Blacks slider -25 to add contrast
· Vignette -5 to slightly darken corners.
Overall, a lovely experience, leading to a pleasing image on the day. Best lessons learnt, to be ready with a long lens for what you might encounter. Be ready to move and to keep re-working the composition.