HDR from two exposures plus the bird added from another exposure.
Post-processing steps
Photomatix Baxic:
HDR from two RAW files.
Tone Mapped and saved as TIFF-16 bit.
CS2 processing:
Cropped and straightened slightly
Shadows/Highlights and Exposure adjustments
High Pass/Soft Light mode
Hue/Saturation on individual colors
Converted to 8-bit mode
Copy/Pasted and resized a bird from a third file taken at the same location
Cloned to remove some grass in front of the bird
Dodged the bird to reduce shadows
Levels adjustment on bird
Added border, resized, smart sharpened, saved for web.
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People all agreed that the focus is bad on this. I am thinking that the problem may have come from combining two shots for HDR. It was a breezy day, and while I used a tripod and I am pretty sure the camera was steady, the trees were probably moving enough that the two shots didn't combine well. This is my second failure at HDR, but it won't be my last. I'll keep trying, and each time I'll learn something.
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With such a wide variety of flora in the shot, I agree with the others that the shot would have been improved by greater sharpness, so we can better distinguish the details. I've only had success myself with HDR with absolutely static images, good on you for giving something "live" a go!
I have the same problem with HDR when using actual multiple images. I fear it's limited in the situations where it can be used - particularly, as you mentioned, when there's any wind or movement in your subject. But yeah, keep trying it - it works well in some instances, not so much in others.
Just a thought (as I of course have no idea what is to the right of the image) but I think setting the tree in the middle just a bit more off to the left might help this also, good luck with the HDR, I just DL'ed the trial and am looking forward to trying it out. Neat location!
Yeah I think the multiple-exposure HDR is a tricky thing to get right. The slightest variation in camera position or wind-driven movement of the subject will end up knocking out the image in a slight way. I've had a few shots that I thought would be good end up messed up by that.
Having said that I don't think that this was a disaster by any stretch. I think, had the perspective been right, I'd have been tempted to have the bird up front right, for some foreground interest.
A bit fuzzy on the focus - I have this problem with landscapes, too. My camera (nor I) can't seem to find where it is I want to focus. In this case, maybe focus on the foreground trees. I do love the light - you picked a great time of day. And I like the little surprise of the egret!
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