Stills

I think Art Morris (does he still do this) had a heron sihouette in his portfolio - however, given his passion for bright colours the result is not as strong as this monochromatic presentation. Very delicate and peaceful. Do you have more in the series? Not sure if that raised leg being a little further forward would make the picture a little more dynamic.
 

Thanks for the comments.

Guy -- Art Morris certainly does still do this -- and makes quite a living at it, holding workshops all over the world. He lives here in Florida. The one you are probably thinking of is kind of a signature image for him -- two reddish egrets with wings open facing each other -- it is at the top of his web page (www.birdsasart.com).

Interestingly (to me, anyway), I've had a few suggestions to warm this image up, and one to convert it to black and white. I think I'll leave it as Is.

Yes, I have some more taken at the same time, but have not processed them yet -- I have a horizontal where the bird's bill is open that might be more dynamic, though on first inspection, this one stood out to me.
 

I think that as a true black and white this might be a bit too stark, but as it is the hint of magenta (tea staining??) works well.

The focus effects are perfect. This is heron as icon.

The in-focus plant far left stops the whole thing being too divorced from the way one might see the reality. It is interesting to watch how the image changes as I cover the left hand edge with a cropping finger.
 

Wow, I like this image for a lot of reasons. I know that it is in color, but the montone hues are similar to my toned images, so gives me a strong connecton.

And I like the sliver of sharp focus and the nice effects of the background weeds in the framing of the bird as well as their delicate look.

I have no further suggestions but to leave it as it is. Well done.
 

Being one of the last to comment, I have no new insight! Certainly nothing needs to be added, taken away or changed. The secret seems to be the way the vegetation has been handled - the heron is almost incidental to that circle of absorbing shapes.
 

Not much to say about this that hasn't already been said. It's a beautiful shot. Although the fact that it's straight from the camera, it is nice to know that the world really can be that beautiful without any mediation.