Bird

[ishootRAW]

[IMG][/IMG]

Canon 50D - canon 70-300 F/4-5.6 IS USM
0.001 sec (1/1000)
f/5.6
300 mm
ISO100
Edited in GIMP and Photoshop.

This is my first time posting in Critique. Admins please forgive me if I have missed something, not sacrificed the right chicken, etc

My three main questions.
1. Does anyone know what type of bird this is?
2. Should I have got a little closer to the ground to bring the horizon down?
3. Did I over edit it?

[RichardTaylor]

It appears to be a great blue heron (I am not a bird expert.)

I feel shooting a little lower, and especially closer, would help (providing the background is "clean".

The editing, especially for a high contrast back lit (not good) subject , appears to be OK.
As always lighting that flatters the subject helps a lot.
Is the white balance correct? The pic appears a little "cool" to me.

Aesthetics.
The composition is very centred.
Try placing the bird on one of the "thirds", preferably looking into the picture, when shooting or when cropping.
The light blue at the top of the pic is dragging my eye away from the subject.