I was silly to have not posted this series three years ago when I took it.
It’s a three image sequential series without any skips. To be honest I can’t remember if it was taken at Bear River MBR or Farmington Bay WMA but I suspect it was the former.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I’m not sure why I haven’t posted it before. Maybe it was because the heron is side lit with little direct light on the face but the colorful left eye is easily seen and what little of the right eye we can see is nicely lit. The bird is sharp in all three shots and I like the background very much so why I apparently skipped over these photos is a mystery to me.
I forgot all about them until last night when I found them by chance.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
One of my many little idiosyncrasies (weirdnesses?) with sequential flight series is that I like to follow the movement of background elements in the frame as an indicator of how far the bird has traveled in the 1/10th of a second between shots in the burst. Here the brightest yellow vertical and out of focus stem on the shore in the background (probably a dead phragmites stem) can easily be followed in all three photos.
Notice the water droplets about to fall from the heron’s feet.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I caught them falling in the last photo.
Little things like that catch my eye and I think they often add to both the realism and the charm of my images. But depending on what they are they can also distract. An example would be the out of focus McDonald’s Golden Arches at upper left. They’re subtle but they’re there.
Once I saw them I couldn’t unsee them.
Ron
You were just waiting for the perfect time to show us these marvelous shots! 🙂
Yup, I had it all planned out! 🙂
I’m so glad you found, and posted the pics. Beautiful.
Thank you, Jean.
Wow! I have never seen this bird, let alone in stunning flight photos! You are truly amazing! Probably you had so many photos to view that day and there were raptors to post. Thanks for posting these today!
Thanks, Pat. Who knows why I overlooked these photos. I sure don’t.
Patty, Marty and I have often said we would like to go trawling through your files. We were (mostly) referring to your ‘trash’ piles but obviously we need to expand our horizons. And probably ensure a lifetime’s work for the three of us.
Love this series, and would never have identified the arches.
The water droplet on the other hand…
And the wayward feather?…
Thanks Ron. Lots.
That’s an interesting feather isn’t it, EC – the way it sticks up like that and the fact that it doesn’t appear to have vanes.
I like the water dripping off the toes.
Good.
You are so funny. I couldn’t tell that the Golden Arches were there. You are so picky. Any one of us would have entered anyone of these great captures in a photo contest. I noted the water droplets and your attention to detail is beyond.
Linda, it’s probably easier for me to notice detail because I have to pay such close attention when I’m processing my images.
Nice to see an immature one…I have only seen the adult and gotten photos twice. Both times he happened to be on logs searching the waters so these are a most pleasant surprise! They are such a slender looking bird when standing still and peering so this was quite the surprise to see the wing span especially in the second and third photo! 😍
Love these pictures. Gorgeous bird. And thanks (not) for the eye-worm!
Love the shots!
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Dick.
Neat! Love seeing the Heron doing something besides skulking along the reeds. 😀 The water drops on it’s feet DO add a dimension to the photos. Wing span is impressive…..
3 to 4″ more snow last night – glad first round has settled some…..😳 Also half “wet” which we REALLY need.
Thanks, Judy. Congrats on the wet stuff.
I can unsee them despite your annoying nit picking! 😁 They’re blurry enough for me, and combined with your glorious images of the night her on, they’re beyond insignificant!
Serendipity is a good thing. You were going to cull theses, weren’t you? Shame! 😎
No, I don’t think I’d have culled them, Laura. I must have seen them back then but I sure don’t remember them.
One of my favorite birds, I’m glad you didn’t post them three years ago because I wasn’t following your blog then!
That’s a good way to look at it, Stephanie. 🙂
Have taken many good photos of these guys and gals, but never in flight. Not even a take off or landing. Really like the last one with the down wings and would never have even thought of the faded Golden Arches. My eyes were completely focused on the Heron. Great shot.
Everett, you allude to one of the things I like about the series – in 3 photos I caught the wings in 3 completely different positions.
The white dots on the ends of the wing coverts are very attractive to me, making it unlikely that I would ever notice phragmites “golden arches”. I didn’t know the dots were part of the plumage.
Pam, those ‘dots’ are characteristic of immature birds.
After glancing at the first shot my first thought was that I would comment on the dreamy background, but then I read on and similarly, once you’ve read it you can’t unread it seized me. Love those Black-crowned Night Herons anytime.
Dave, in this case the ‘McDonald’s Arches” really don’t bother me, in fact they amuse me in their subtlety.