Little Blue with Fish

Gallery: AvianPosted October 18, 2010191 views15 comments

Egretta caerulea

This juvie Little Blue Heron was wading with several others in a backwater area off of the Mississippi that was drying up. The fish were concentrated in a very small pool and the birds were catching them one after the other.

Brand new monitor, so please let me know if the brightness is off.

7D, 500mm f4L IS
1/1250, f9.0, ISO 200

All comments and critique appreciated.
Thank You.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on October 18, 2010 at 10:41 PM

Great image. Nice and sharp with good handling of the whites. That is one BIG fish. Wish he'd given you just a bit more head turn for eye contact. Hope to see some others from your trip.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on October 18, 2010 at 10:43 PM

A photo op I'm envious of. Here on Long Island the wading birds almost always feast on little minnows and are rarely seen with anything of size. brightness looks perfect.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on October 18, 2010 at 10:52 PM

Great catch for bird and photographer - well done Matt.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on October 18, 2010 at 11:43 PM

Good timing to get the concentric waves and the fish in a good position. Might do a little house cleaning on the red blob in the water upper right area, a picky point but that's all I can offer for improvement.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Benjamin DeHaven on October 19, 2010 at 12:00 AM

Bad day to be a fish. Good day to be you. Nice image. I personally would attempt to brighten the bird a bit, but white birds are so hard to not blow out. You might want to play around with it a bit. Couldn't blame you if you left it alone, it's quite nice.

Registered on May 31, 2010, 26 Posts, 53 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on October 19, 2010 at 7:15 AM

Nice detail in the larger image Matt - the fish looks like it's given up the ghost.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on October 19, 2010 at 7:55 AM

Nice capture Matt and nice job with the whites. This looks good on my calibrated monitor, perhaps a tad dark for me across the top but that also is good contrast for the total picture.

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on October 19, 2010 at 8:17 AM

Great feeding behavior image Matt - the size of that fish really makes the point. To my eye the whites look good. I like the reflection and water ripples too and your comp is just about right for my tastes.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on October 19, 2010 at 10:27 AM

I love the ripples on the otherwise smooth as glass waters. Very cool what it does to the reflection. The whites look good to me. Now that it was mentioned that red blob in the URC is catching my eye.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Axel Hildebrandt on October 19, 2010 at 10:52 AM

That is quite a big fish for this bird. Good light and eye contact. I might crop a bit off the bottom.

Registered on October 16, 2006, 66 Posts, 441 Comments

Comment posted by mark cillo on October 19, 2010 at 12:02 PM

Beautiful image Matt! Great light and very dramatic

Registered on July 27, 2008, 143 Posts, 1483 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on October 19, 2010 at 4:10 PM

Really nice exposure to my eye Matt. Love the fish, water, and ripples. Great overall comp. Well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on October 19, 2010 at 5:48 PM

Nice one! Did you get any pictures of him choking it down?

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 19, 2010 at 8:14 PM

Sweet shot Matt, that's quite a big fish for that species I think. If it were mine I would crop a little bit more from the top.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on October 20, 2010 at 10:37 AM

Excellent exposure & POV Matt, great detail.
I think the framing is perfect for this.
I especially like the muted reflection and waters action

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments