Little Blue Heron

[redrew]

Canon 1D Mark IIn, Canon 600mm + 1.4x, 1/800 @ f5.6

[TheArcane]

A very beautiful species of heron, and always a joy to capture. As far as the photograph itself, it does have some blown highlights, which is most likely triggered due to the time of day. You also want to watch your composition a little more closely, which is sometimes easier said than done with moving subjects such as wildlife. With a tall subject such as this, I would consider shooting it in vertical orientation to accentuate the tall body. Also since the subject is centered in the frame, the direction of the body, and especially with the long beak of the subject, leads the eye from the subject directly out of the right side of the frame. You can talk about composition and the "sweet spots" till doomsday, so a simple thing to keep in mind is to leave more space on the side of the frame where the animal is looking. Centering your subject (Unless there's a dynamic reason to do so) usually leads to an uninteresting composition.

[redrew]

Joshua, frankly I considered not posting this image because of its deficiencies, not the least of which is that I had to crop more than I like causing a loss of resolution. As you wisely observed the photo was taken close to noon causing blown out highlights of the log and BG. As to composition I am not particularly a fan of vertical formats in this instance because the bird was walking making a horizontal emphasis. I can easily correct the blown highlights but the rest of it is probably a lost cause. Thank you for the observations.

[jprzybyla]

Hi Rollin, nice image. The Little Blue Heron also are in Florida. I have seen and photographed them having a white morph. The bill and legs stay the color in yours but the feathers are white.

[redrew]

Thank you Joe, yes newly fledged they are white turning dark after they mature. Actually somewhat difficult to get the exposure right because they are so dark. This one had the sun almost overhead so it looks lighter than normal.