Great Blue Heron

Thelensspot · October 19, 2015

First outing with the Nikkor 80-400 f 4.5-5.6 VR lens. Captured on the York River at
1/1250, f6.3, ISO 200, 400 mm with AF-S spot centered focusing. I am very new to attempting wildlife photography. C's & C's always welcome.

Stumblebum · October 20, 2015

Did good for trying out! The weeds are always tricky, you need them to hide from critters, but when they get in front of lens, you get that undesired bokeh as here. Nice freeze of action though! Cheers Wayne!

Thelensspot · October 20, 2015

Stumblebum wrote: »

Did good for trying out! The weeds are always tricky, you need them to hide from critters, but when they get in front of lens, you get that undesired bokeh as here. Nice freeze of action though! Cheers Wayne!

Taz, You the man! Much appreciated!

Spinner of Tales · October 20, 2015

Nice shot!

Spinner

Thelensspot · October 20, 2015

Spinner of Tales wrote: »

Nice shot!

Spinner

Thanks Spinner, much appreciated.

Juano · October 20, 2015

I like it. I get what Taz is talking about, but on the other hand the weeds add a sense of place...

Thelensspot · October 21, 2015

Juano wrote: »

I like it. I get what Taz is talking about, but on the other hand the weeds add a sense of place...

That was my thought also. Thanks for taking the time and the kind review.

roaddog52 · October 24, 2015

Very nice shot of one of these big birds.

thumb

In my area they are so leary, you really have to sneak up on one of these Herons to get a shot. Most times I stop my vehicle for a better look and off they go.

Phil

kscooper · October 25, 2015

Hey Wayne -

Somehow I get the feeling that you are about to be hooked on bird photography - just as happened to me - and I can't wait to see your skills develop . . .

Eric

Thelensspot · October 25, 2015

roaddog52 wrote: »

Very nice shot of one of these big birds. thumb

In my area they are so leary, you really have to sneak up on one of these Herons to get a shot. Most times I stop my vehicle for a better look and off they go.

Phil

Phil, I've had that same experience. This one just seemed to be oblivious to activity until I aimed the camera!

Thanks for stopping by!

kscooper wrote: »

Hey Wayne -

Somehow I get the feeling that you are about to be hooked on bird photography - just as happened to me - and I can't wait to see your skills develop . . .

Eric

Eric, you just might be right!

puzzledpaul · October 26, 2015

Definitely a good start with a new piece of kit, imo.

A pic that looks sharp, a bit of action taken from a frontal viewpoint - rather than the often seen rear quarter shots of subject going away from cam - and water ... which, of course, is my least favoured envronment

Re reeds / foliage etc between cam and subject ... yes, can give a 'sense of place' ... I wonder if this would still be present if you cropped out the better defined reeds and just left the more oof ones?

'peekaboo' shots through reeds etc can certainly work, as can having tree foliage in shot as some sort of 'anchor' ...if not as complete bg rather than boring,featureless blue sky.

Obviously, you'd expect me to rant on about low povs - especially where water's involved - but all I'll say is try it out for yourself and make your own judgement. If you frequent a local venue often enough, look for suitable locations that allow such shooting.

I've put this link up before, but if you've not seen it, it's worth a look, as there are, for me, anyway, many points that fit with my approach ...and note the last sentence of tip 1 ... from someone far better /experienced than myself

http://blog.northshots.com/2013/12/20-nature-wildlife-photography-tips/

pp

Thelensspot · October 26, 2015

puzzledpaul wrote: »

Definitely a good start with a new piece of kit, imo.

A pic that looks sharp, a bit of action taken from a frontal viewpoint - rather than the often seen rear quarter shots of subject going away from cam - and water ... which, of course, is my least favoured envronment

Re reeds / foliage etc between cam and subject ... yes, can give a 'sense of place' ... I wonder if this would still be present if you cropped out the better defined reeds and just left the more oof ones?

'peekaboo' shots through reeds etc can certainly work, as can having tree foliage in shot as some sort of 'anchor' ...if not as complete bg rather than boring,featureless blue sky.

Obviously, you'd expect me to rant on about low povs - especially where water's involved - but all I'll say is try it out for yourself and make your own judgement. If you frequent a local venue often enough, look for suitable locations that allow such shooting.

I've put this link up before, but if you've not seen it, it's worth a look, as there are, for me, anyway, many points that fit with my approach ...and note the last sentence of tip 1 ... from someone far better /experienced than myself

http://blog.northshots.com/2013/12/20-nature-wildlife-photography-tips/

pp

Paul, having visited your website several times, I value your input! I appreciate your very thoughtful comments and will most certainly take a look at the URL you kindly posted. Means a lot for you to take a look at my beginner efforts and pass on your knowledge and experience. I do plan to revisit this area and decide where to best position the camera as you suggested. Regards and thanks again!

Great Blue Heron

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