Embarrassed to say I never waded completely through Jenaya's and my folders from Florida last year, and decided it was about time.
I was focused on a Great Blue Heron nest at the wetlands I was photographing at, waiting for the babies to pop their heads up, when I noticed this tricolored heron land on a broken palm just behind me. With the backlighting that was happening in the foggy morning light, I decided to abandon the Great Blues in favour of this beautiful (and much more cooperative) heron.
I'll probably post a slightly different image of it preening once I get back to process a few more, but I thought I'd share this one for now.
LARGER version provided and viewable by clicking on image above.
Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 400
1/1250sec @ f/5
-0.3 EV
Cropped to app. 80% of original to eliminate distracting intruding branch from left.
Comments
13 commentsWonderful image John, the Heron's pose is great - and the matching colors do the rest of the trick ! Well done, hats off ! Best, Hans
Excellent shot, with pose, BG and perch...
Utterly gorgeous, John. Wonderful job bringing out the subtle shades in the plumage and the perch is great. You got the dof perfect. That's a killer bg as well.
Killer background and perch on this one John. Techs look spot on. Well done.
Sweet background really sets this off. The Bird is great with a very nice angle.
John, you're knockin' 'em dead!
The perch, the background, the pose, the comp, the technicals and presentation are all outstanding!
John, this is a nice shot. I think the varied colors in the background do a nice job of sort of echoing the varied coloration in the bird's plumage. Not all the same colors, of course, but the same effect.
Max
You've got fine subtle lighting and terrific color matching with the background on this bird, John.
Gorgeous colors, what a great pose pose & plummage display John!
One the best Tricolored I've seen
Outstanding John, the colors are amazing. Great BG, pose and perch too.
Thanks so much for your comments, everyone! I was certainly enthused as I framed this beautiful heron up in this light, and moved as quickly (and quietly) as I could to find the most complementive angle/background. I ended up photographing it with both my FX and DX bodies and 500mm and 300mm lenses, so it definitely gave me every opportunity to get it right.
Nicely framed and composed John. I especially like the BG on this..the tones really go well with the bird. Plus, that perch is awesome. Nice wrok
Awesome-sauce is all I have to say!