How do I improve this - BIF?

[kevinmat]

I've been trying to capture an Egret in flight at the bottom of my garden and am having some difficulty in capturing detail and/or focus in flight with adequate DOF. Attached is a latest pic using a 5D and a 70-300mm DO lens. Any suggestions?
Thanks

Attached pic F/9 - 1/800 sec - 400 ISO

[attachment=7447:attachment]

[wolfnowl]

I've seen much worse...

Just keep shooting, and remember when shooting animals to literally focus on the eyes.  Other parts of the anatomy can be OOF, but if the eyes are, the shot will look off.  Of course there are exceptions to everything, but that's a good general rule.

Mike.

P.S.  Welcome to the list!

[marcmccalmont]

Although a low rez jpeg is not a good example focus fixer will sharpen up the details nicely. (a full rez tiff would be a better example)
Marc

[attachment=7545:attachment]

[dalethorn]

Nearly every aspect of this photo is close to ideal, except one:  It would be better not to crop so close, or if full size, "expand" the edges in your image editor.  I'm guilty of overcropping sometimes, since I carry the small computer around to show various photos to people, and the small screen (7-1/2 inch) tends to work against very small subjects.

[sadja]

The image looks pretty good. If you are looking for ways to improve it, I have a couple of suggestion that require knowlege of Photoshop's quick mask technique. For the far wing and tail feathers, create a mask and use curves to reduce the brightness. Using a separate mask, create a circle around only the eye and use curves to brighten the eye.

I can't be sure from looking at the relatively small image here, but the neck and head look oversharpened.

When shooting egrets, I use a -2/3 to -1 stop exposure compensation and a shutter speed of 1/1000 and higher. Adjust ISO as necessary. It can also be quite effective to shoot them against the light with a flash fill.

Have to tried getting lower and shooting closer to water level?