Yellow-crowned Night-Her

Gallery: AvianPosted April 10, 2011113 views9 comments

Brazos Bend State Park. Richmond Texas. April 9, 2011.

If any of you are near Houston and would like to see a lot of these, walk around Hale Lake soon. There must have been >30 adults and juvies within easy shooting distance. I saw more Night-Herons today than in all my days before me. Be prepared for the walk. 3 1/2 miles with large camera gear was pretty far. (The lake was 2 miles, but parking was far since it was "Boy Scout Weekend".) I also saw an immature black-crowned, but no adults.

D3. ISO 1000. 300/2.8 with 2x tc. f5.6 1/500s. It was very late in the day and shooting into area shaded by trees required pushing the ISO toward the end of the day. About 50% FF.

Night-Herons are not very dynamic birds. The sometimes (usually) just look like statues. I chose this image because he has one lifted leg-dynamic!

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on April 10, 2011 at 9:14 AM

I like the "dynamic" lifted leg in this and the perch! I might try to pull a little more detail out of that crown by selecting it and lowering the exposure a tad. Detail everywhere else is fantastic and your larger version shows that well. Nice job! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on April 10, 2011 at 9:30 AM

Angela, this is fantastic. I love the raised foot pose, the soft light and detail. Sharon's idea re: the crown is worth spending a bit of time on.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on April 10, 2011 at 11:29 AM

Wonderful pose and detail, Angela. That one leg up and interesting, perfectly designed perch are great! In line with previous comments, it would be nice to see a bit more detail in the crown if possible. I bet you have a good chance at accomplishing that because you're not in bright sunshine here.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on April 10, 2011 at 12:01 PM

A very nice image with soft light and strong composition. The detail and lack of noise at this high ISO and 50% crop is impressive.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 10, 2011 at 12:46 PM

Nice pose and bg. I feel it may need a slight CW rotation

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond Klassen on April 10, 2011 at 1:46 PM

Nice image. I like the leg lift as well! Good detail in the large photo. I also like the mossy branch he's perched on.

Registered on November 30, 2008, 114 Posts, 790 Comments

Comment posted by Dottie Short on April 10, 2011 at 9:46 PM

I think the YCNH are such regal birds, and the white feathers draping from the back of his head makes him look like one of those feathered hats from the middle ages. They may be rather static, but I like their color combination and the raised foot of this one is nice. The larger version displays how sharp the photo is. Excellent image Angela.

Registered on April 12, 2010, 61 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 12, 2011 at 5:10 AM

Just when I thought I was familiar with all species of Herons, you pop up with another completely new to me, thanks for sharing on that score alone Angela :^)

Detail and exposure are superb, as I've come to expect of all your images ;^) While this is merely personal preference, I think I'd like this just a little more set in landscape over the crop you've chosen.

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 12, 2011 at 9:33 AM

Angela,

I love the pose with the raised foot, the lovely natural colors, lovely details despite the 50% crop which indicates to me this was sharp and had loads of detail in the original file and was exposed well so that noise didn't creep in. I love how you have eye contact but the bird isn't staring directly into the camera. A little more detail in the crown would be nice. I like the comp you used and that great mossy perch.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments