This image could have been better. I have no doubt about that. I did get the exposure right and I like the action.<\/p>\n But there are far too many things about this photo that just don’t work.<\/p>\n<\/div> What I could have done to improve this image:<\/p>\n<\/div> This was a very cooperative bird because it was not focused on me, it was focused on hunting and eating prey so my moving may not have scared the bird away.<\/p>\n I feel that when I am culling out my “bad” images that it is important to evaluate why the image didn’t work, to mentally list things I could have done to improve the quality and composition, a form of self critique. I also critique the images that I feel “work” well and make a mental list about those items too. It might be a pain to spend the time evaluating individual images but I feel that my photography has improved because of my practicing self critique.<\/p>\n Normally images that don’t work I delete right after I view them but this one I kept because it was the “kick in the butt” I needed (and still need) to pay more attention to the problems I see in the frame at the time the image is created. It helps me as a photographer to think about what I could have done to improve this image of the Snowy Egret.<\/p>\n![\"Snowy](\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-mia-mcpherson-0487.jpg\" "\\"Snowy")
Snowy Egret – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n