Sometimes you have to choose between optimal camera settings and getting the shot at all.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, canvas added for composition, not baited, set up or called in
Two days ago I spent some time at one of my favorite ponds at Bear River MBR. It was early morning and the light was still relatively low as I photographed a variety of birds on the sheltered pond and my camera settings were appropriate for that situation but suddenly this juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron came sailing in with the apparent intention of landing on the pond. I knew I probably wouldn’t have time to adjust my camera settings for the bright blue sky background before popping off a quick shot or two so I just took my chances and fired away.
I was mostly pleased with the results. The exposure was pretty good in camera, I like the warm morning light on the bird, there’s some detail even in the deep shadows and the heron is sharp. My high ISO (resulting in excessive shutter speed) probably affected image quality slightly but I think it’s minimal so I’m glad I took the shot instead of fiddling with camera settings first.
For those interested, preliminary results from the camera shop on my malfunctioning 7D Mark II indicate I may have a focusing sensor that is performing erratically. I hope to hear more today.
Ron
Note: Good friend Justina Parsons-Bernstein of Utah State Parks talked with Jeremy Shaw, manager of Antelope Island State Park yesterday and he told her that a bunch of bighorn rams have been spotted on the island after the fire and they were doing fine. All of us have been worried about them because they haunt the more remote parts of the island where the fire was particularly destructive. Good news!
I can’t figure out what’s going on with the night heron’s left wing. There’s shadow at the tip from something.
Pam, that shadow is caused by the ends of the front three wing primaries that are bent at a different angle from the rest. The sun was low and to my left.
Excellent news about the bighorns. Coincidentally we were at the scene of one of our nastiest fires yesterday. There were images posted. Heart-breaking images just after the firestorm roared through, and amazing regrowth images just 12 weeks later. Mind you, thirteen years later, some of the scars are still visible.
Love your heron and am thrilled that the camera shot has been able to identify an intermittent problem. Yay them.
Beautiful shot of the Night Heron! Am also glad to hear that the Bighorns are alive and well. I hope your camera issues can be easily resolved. It sounds like the shop is onto something.
Thanks, Susan. I hope they’ve found the problem I’ve been having with that camera.
I love their croaky call. I was pleasantly surprised by all the night herons I saw Tuesday. It seem like many species of birds are having a good reproductive year in Utah. I was thinking of going out to BRMBR again this morning but I just could not face the drive with the construction. When I went Tuesday there was either an accident or they were adjusting the lanes. I was stuck in traffic on the way home. It took me almost 1 hour to travel from Willard Bay to 2700 N in Ogden. It dampened a good day.
April, Bear River is absolutely loaded with BCNH’s right now.
Your traffic problems Tuesday sound like a nightmare.
Good news about the bighorns! Fire travels UP and so do bighorns.. Greavt detail on the heron…an interesting, elusive bird. I hope your camera can be fixed and reliable…”erratic” performance destroys confidence as well as tesults…
“erratic” performance destroys confidence as well as tesults”
You’re absolutely correct about that, Patty. I never knew if I was going to get a sharp shot or not and it was very discouraging.
What a splendid shot! And you know that life is all about compromise 😉
GREAT news about the big horns! YIPPEE!!! Let the good news keep on coming! YAY!
Thanks very much, Laura.
The picture is super!!! This is another bird I have never spotted.And there is so much waterfowl at Harts Basin ( are you familiar with it?)also it’s sadly draining . it’s used for irrigation. So basin gets smaller and smaller as summer goes by. Glad to hear on bighorn . And I hate camera issues. !!!!!!looks like your older 7 is doing splendidly. I am going up grand mesa camping for a week. So excited to get away from heat and routine. .
No, I’m not familiar with Harts Basin but my brother-in-law spends a lot of time on Grand Mesa and he loves it up there. Have fun!
Ron, once again, great shot. I have a question for you however. I am curious about your comment about shutter speed affecting image quality. Maybe I can learn something here. The implication is that higher shutter speeds can in some impact image quality. I have never heard that. Would you mind explaining.
Thanks in advance.
Frank, I’m on the island so this will be brief. Shutter speed does not affect image quality but High ISO does (by increasing noise). I put shutter speed in parenthesis to try to avoid that confusion but apparently it didn’t work. Sorry.
Wonderful flight shot Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Nice! I’d rather get the shot than have perfection when it comes to things like that! 🙂 Hate “erratic” and “intermittent” when it comes to figuring out problems in a multitude of items! 🙂 Glad the bighorn rams appear to be fine.
“I’d rather get the shot than have perfection”
Yup, that’s what it all boils down to in situations like this, Judy.