Reflections

[Donald]

They are both beautiful, Steve, but I particularly like the softness of the first.

I agree. An amazing effect. I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at, but I like it.

[Donald]

Vidyadharan

That is a very, very nice capture. I wondered what it would be like if you cropped it to a much more panoramic aspect ratio, cutting the the top to remove what I think is a roadway and then the bottom to lose most of branches that appear?

[dharankk9]

Vidyadharan

That is a very, very nice capture. I wondered what it would be like if you cropped it to a much more panoramic aspect ratio, cutting the the top to remove what I think is a roadway and then the bottom to lose most of branches that appear?

Actually it is a protected area and general public is not allowed to go near so I captured it from road where the outside fencing is started. View this another shot taken same day and time

More pictures are there Will post later

[Wirefox]

I agree. An amazing effect. I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at, but I like it.

Camera shake and fill flash. Actually quite a bit of camera shake to overcome the effect of the flash. First time I tried this so I am going to have a go at other linear objects to see what happens.

Oh and as Antonio rightly pointed out a wide aperture to minimalise DoF

Steve

[Steve H]

[wilgk]

Very clever!

[Sam Smith]

This Kolock's Pond in Harbersham Co, Ga USA.

[ScoutR]

C&C welcome - I know the focus isn't sharp, but I welcome any other suggestions as to how to get better shots of these guys.

All you Dr. Doolittle's out there that know how to stalk these things. Is it best to pick a spot and wait, or walk around looking for them. They don't stick around very long when they hear anything, but I don't know if they'd bother coming at all if I was sitting anywhere near the waters edge where I would not be concealed at all. I could however go a bit further away and hide in some weeds, but that would be uncomfortable and with my 200mm not so good.

Wendy

[dipdawiz]

Two of reflection photos from my archive

1. silhouette


2. monochrome

[revi]

...

C&C welcome - I know the focus isn't sharp, but I welcome any other suggestions as to how to get better shots of these guys.

All you Dr. Doolittle's out there that know how to stalk these things. Is it best to pick a spot and wait, or walk around looking for them. They don't stick around very long when they hear anything, but I don't know if they'd bother coming at all if I was sitting anywhere near the waters edge where I would not be concealed at all. I could however go a bit further away and hide in some weeds, but that would be uncomfortable and with my 200mm not so good.

Wendy

Those critters are difficult...

A lot depends where you find them: my best ones were near a beach, with a lot of tourists passing by. So with careful approach, you could get quite close. On the other hand, where I live they often visit the fields with cows in winter. There, no way to approach them, and I haven't yet had a chance to try from a hiding spot.

If you can approach the area in a car, you could try shooting from the car. Wildlife seems to accept cars a lot better than it accepts humans (perhaps because cars don't shoot at them )

Remco

[rolandjo]

Hi all,

I also have one, but I have one Q, witch part is the real one?


Best regards,

Roland

[Peter Ryan]

All you Dr. Doolittle's out there that know how to stalk these things. Is it best to pick a spot and wait, or walk around looking for them. They don't stick around very long when they hear anything, but I don't know if they'd bother coming at all if I was sitting anywhere near the waters edge where I would not be concealed at all. I could however go a bit further away and hide in some weeds, but that would be uncomfortable and with my 200mm not so good.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

I was away last week and sitting within 2 meters of these guys; and yes it is Great White Egret. They will not come to you. They are normally solitary birds. However many have learned to live close to humans. They were waiting next to a fish cleaning area and so used to people they didn’t move.

You have to build a portfolio of these guys as and when you see them. This is a nice shot, very moody and shows the bird in situ. Depending on the light it is hard not to burn out the highlights on these guys. Getting the sun on the side certainly helps but you can’t place your subject where you want them and even then it is still hard to avoid burnt out highlights. The other thing is you can crop the shot to show the bird off more if you prefer it.

The shot below was taken while I was away and the bird was no more than 10 feet from me and happy to be there.

[ScoutR]

Hi Wendy,

I was away last week and sitting within 2 meters of these guys; and yes it is Great White Egret. They will not come to you. They are normally solitary birds. However many have learned to live close to humans. They were waiting next to a fish cleaning area and so used to people they didn’t move.

You have to build a portfolio of these guys as and when you see them. This is a nice shot, very moody and shows the bird in situ. Depending on the light it is hard not to burn out the highlights on these guys. Getting the sun on the side certainly helps but you can’t place your subject where you want them and even then it is still hard to avoid burnt out highlights. The other thing is you can crop the shot to show the bird off more if you prefer it.

The shot below was taken while I was away and the bird was no more than 10 feet from me and happy to be there.

Thanks Peter, I think I will have to hang around more early in the morning until they get used to me. I went 2 days in a row and there are quite a few Egrets and Blue Herons. They are very timid though and rather grouchy when disturbed. When they see the slightest movement they are gone. I'm very happy with the mood aspect of the shots I took, but technically they are very bad. I meant to be trying out the 3D tracking mode on the camera, but of course I set it wrong, so I was lucky to get them as clear as this. I hope the birds stick around for awhile so I can try again. They are beautiful and the lake they are on has very nice light early in the morning.
Thanks for confirming that this is an egret. There is another sort of ugly looking dark grey bird around too, that I will try to get a shot of for identification. I'm thinking maybe a cormarant (sp) or a vulture or something. fairly bit with short legs, short, tail, long bill with a bit of a downward curve on the tip.

Thanks again
Wendy

[Peter Ryan]

There is another sort of ugly looking dark grey bird around too, that I will try to get a shot of for identification. I'm thinking maybe a cormarant (sp) or a vulture or something. fairly bit with short legs, short, tail, long bill with a bit of a downward curve on the tip.

Thanks again
Wendy

I'm thinking a photo will make it easier to identify rather than your commentary - nothing against your powers of observation but I'm not getting any picture here.

[ScoutR]

Ok we'll see if even a bad picture is worth a thousand words. This is a huge crop of a shot that was not focused to well to begin with, but maybe it's enough.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Wendy,

How's this?



of course, now I have to write the thousand words on what I did

It doesn't bear too close a scrutiny, but from a distance I think it's better

It took a while and I haven't eaten yet, back later ...

[Peter Ryan]

Ok we'll see if even a bad picture is worth a thousand words. This is a huge crop of a shot that was not focused to well to begin with, but maybe it's enough.

Hi Wendy,

I think it is a Cormorant. I was initially thinking of a Shag but they are normally darker than this. Shags always stand drying thier wings but have a look herehttp://www.hickerphoto.com/cormorant-209-pictures.htm

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Wendy,

I think it is a Cormorant. I was initially thinking of a Shag but they are normally darker than this. Shags always stand drying thier wings but have a look herehttp://www.hickerphoto.com/cormorant-209-pictures.htm

You could be right Peter, although (FWIW) UK comorants are almost black, except when quite young, so I was wondering if it was a Shag.

[Peter Ryan]

You could be right Peter, although (FWIW) UK comorants are almost black, except when quite young, so I was wondering if it was a Shag.

Hi Dave,

Aussy comorants are also black and I was taking my lead from the title under the photo but as we know these can easily be wrong. I am work at the moment and will do some more research when I get a minute.

[ScoutR]

Hi Wendy,

I think it is a Cormorant. I was initially thinking of a Shag but they are normally darker than this. Shags always stand drying thier wings but have a look herehttp://www.hickerphoto.com/cormorant-209-pictures.htm

Thanks Peter, Cormorants and Shags look like a good starting point. I will do some research.

Thanks for taking the time
Wendy