Don’t get me wrong I’m always happy to be out shooting wildlife, even if it’s just a simple portrait. But what really makes me tick are situations like this. You know, the ones that provide you with that something special that you don’t get to capture everyday…
Great Blue Heron in Gulf of Mexico
Shot details
Camera: Nikon D3
Lens: Nikon 50mm 1.4 AFS (read my review)
Settings: 13 seconds, f14, ISO 200 and the MC-30 shutter release cable.
A refreshing change
I had been taking shots of the after glow of sunset on the beautiful white sandy beach at Siesta Key on the West Coast of Florida, when I noticed this Great Blue Heron off in the distance. I knew if I could somehow get a shot of him fishing in his stunning surroundings it could just be one of those special shots.
My ‘plan’ was to carry on shooting the landscape and just hope the Heron would come within range of my 50mm AFS(!!). Well, much to my surprise, after 10 minutes or so he took off and flew down the beach, quite literally landing maybe 20 foot away! I slowly panned the camera round on the tripod so as not to spook him and proceeded to fire off a few shots desperately hoping he would stand still just long enough for the 13 second exposure required to capture the scene as I wanted it. Of the 7 or 8 shots I managed to get, only this one had the cooperation of the Heron! In all the others he moved way too much resulting in double birds, odd looking poses or almost complete translucence. At first when I viewed this image I could see there was still a slight transparency of the Heron but was happy you could fully see the outline clearly. Looking back now though I actually find it adds a sense of mood to the shot along with the misty water – of course that’s a matter of opinion, but then I’m biased… 
Glad to not have the telephoto!
I have to admit, if I had my 200-400 with me my first instinct would have been to grab that and start filling the frame with the Heron, and I think that would have been a shame because using the 50mm forced me to not only include the environment but allowed me to capture the scene with a long exposure which has added greatly to the scene and, in my opinion, given the photo that ‘something special’.
Great, great shot. I really like this. The colours are so delicious I almost want to eat it.
Beautiful! It works very well. Good job you found a stationary heron not a more active bird.
I agree – beautiful! Excellent capture of the colors and glad that it was a stationary bird. I too am not sure if anything else would have worked as well!
Regards,
Marc
Yes – it’s shots like that, that let you put away the long lens and just concentrate on the atmosphere and mood of the moment. Good job on that!