Green Herons

[Ed Vatza]

Image made this evening near a millrace and pond about two minutes from home. One Heron was up in the tree and I was making a series of images of it when the second landed on the same branch. Just wish it was a more "attractive" branch.

Canon 30D; Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS with Canon 2x TC; Canon 580EX II Flash with Better Beamer Bracket-mounted; Tripod-mounted

1/800 sec at f/8; ISO 800; +1 EV; FEC -1; Focal length 600mm (35mm equivalent 960mm)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the poses and interaction. A lower angle would have been great (if possible) and I might sharpen the bird in the back some more. I really need to make some time to get to know the new neighborhood.

[Ed Vatza]

Good morning Axel. Thanks for the feedback. One of the most frustrating things for me is cutting down on the angle. We are surrounded by trees and the birds are most often up in those trees. No surprise there. :) But it creates some steep angles. So I have to compromise between distance from the subject and angle. In this case, moving back farther would have taken down a short hill and into the pond. :( And the Herons were in no hurry to move from this perch. They were there when I arrived and still there when I left about an hour later.

[Maxis Gamez]

I think the bird behind is a distraction but you did well with the fill flash.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

These young green herons are such fun to watch and I really like the interaction you captured in this image but would like to see the steepness of the angle lowered if it were possible. Sometimes it not possible and you do what you can but like the overall feeling of this image.

[Vincent Grafhorst]

What a cool looking herons Ed. IMO in this case the second bird does not add to the scene, since it does not 'interact' with the first bird. If the birds would have been turned, this would have provided for a better opportunity. Good flash work by the way.