Grey Heron with nesting material

[Marc Mol]

Taken last September at Godikwe Lagoon Botswana, a real haven for birders with huge numbers coming in to breed & nest from Sept-Nov.
D3 500VR 1/2000s ISO200@f/4 +0.5EV monopod from boat.

C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc

http://africaddict.smugmug.com/Nature/Botswana-Sept-2009/mm12660a/975089319_5zs6T-XL.jpg

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely warm light and pose with the nest material, Marc. I'm not sure the -0.5 was needed with the sky BG and suspect you needed to open up the shaded areas a lot hence the noise under the wings. With the D3 I would tend to use ISO 800 as a base in this situation.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Mac,
Good comments for Tony. When I am photographing birds against the sky I meter the sky and and one to two stops of light. This will of course at times blow out the sky resulting in a High-Key image but the bird will be exposed properly. You also could use some fill-flash to brighten up the underside to the bird.

Nice pose and composition. The nesting material is a plus. Thanks for sharing.

[Marc Mol]

Appreciate the comments guys.

I'm not sure the -0.5 was needed with the sky BG and suspect you needed to open up the shaded areas a lot hence the noise under the wings.

Have corrected this Tony, was actually +0.5EV and should have been a touch more to bring out that shadow detail.
It's a tough exp comp balance to make sure you don't blow out the whites too much either.;)

[philperry]

Nice shot Marc. Love the nesting material and trailing legs. And good wing spread.

When would you say is best time to visit the lagoon ? Can you book a private boat or is it just pot luck with a lodgeful of photograhers ?