Blue Heron Standing Guard

[LeeFortier]

First day out with my new Nikon 300mm F4 (with a Nikon 1.7 TC attached). Nikon D200, ISO 400, 1/250, F8, 1123am, overcast, monopod.

This bird was quite tolerant of those passing by in the refuge.
Great Meadows NWR, Concord, MA

I wish the BG was not so busy.

91714

[Ian Cassell]

Handsome bird, Lee. I agree about the BG. Does the 1.7X slow you by 1 or 2 stops (my 1.4 slows me by 1 stop and my 2x by 2 stops)? Could you have done this at f/5.6? I think the heron, himself, is well exposed and I like the tight crop here. You might try cloning out that curved branch under his bill and the vertical branch that comes up from the lower right corner and see if that helps with the distracting BG. Congrats on your new glass!

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Lee, so much fun to hold a new lens in your hands! Nice sharp heron - good head angle and excellent color rendition. The bg is a bit busy but still good exercise to make this exposure and capture. You do have some blown whites at the top of the head, maybe 1/3 stop less light would have saved them in the capture. Don't know what software you use, but there are several ways you could tone them down in pp. Good work and congrats on the new lens. :5

[LeeFortier]

Handsome bird, Lee. I agree about the BG. Does the 1.7X slow you by 1 or 2 stops (my 1.4 slows me by 1 stop and my 2x by 2 stops)? Could you have done this at f/5.6? I think the heron, himself, is well exposed and I like the tight crop here. You might try cloning out that curved branch under his bill and the vertical branch that comes up from the lower right corner and see if that helps with the distracting BG. Congrats on your new glass!


The matched Nikon 1.7E II TC works very nicely with this lens, as well as with my 70-200 2.8 VR. This F4 lens turns into an f6.7 with the TC. In normal bright light, it still works well. In heavy overcst, it may hunt from time to time.

From what I've read, the 1.4E II TC is excellent on both of these lens but the old 2.0E II TC isn't worth the purchase. Although, the new 2.0E III TC is getting rave reviews. The problem is that you can't find one.

Thanks for the comment.

[Cody Covey]

I think this bg would've worked better if a bit more in focus to turn the image more towards a Blue Heron in Habitat rather than just a Blue Heron with a busy background. The image looks properly exposed except the hot piece that Kerry addressed. Beautiful bird I really need to get out and find some of to capture.

[Ian Cassell]

. Beautiful bird I really need to get out and find some of to capture.

I know it's a ways from you, but I was in Birch Bay (near Blaine on the border) a couple of years ago and the place was swarming with great blue herons.

[Cody Covey]

Thanks Ian. We have them around here but the ducks have been much easier to get shots of around here And I have just been out trying to practice as much as I can and the ducks provide for a lot of that haha!

[LeeFortier]

Thanks Ian. We have them around here but the ducks have been much easier to get shots of around here And I have just been out trying to practice as much as I can and the ducks provide for a lot of that haha!


If there is a National Wildlife Refuge nearby - go there. A lot of people visit these places and the birds tend to get used to the hikers and birders.

[Steven Kersting]

I'm guessing this is pretty much SOOC....REally quite nice for that. If shot in RAW the highlight recovery would be a simple matter..If shot as Jpeg it cold be toned down, but no detail recovered (probably). Bat as is, it's a relatively small area of relatively minor importance.

I agree w/ the DOF....this could be "faked" reasonably well in post with a few steps. I also agree with the comment about the removing the "twigs", even if you blur the BG (they fall within a reasonable focal plane if faked).

I don't agree w/ more focus in the BG as an "environmental shot", but only because the tonality/ color of the head/neck will largely tend to blend.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

A very nice image, and great lighting for photography. The image is somewhat overexposed, and if you use the "expose to the right" this is big advantage, and you can reduce exposure is post-processing, but the other part of "expose to the right" is try to avoid clipping highlights. That didn't happen here. I shoot great blue herons alot, and the white feathers at the top of the head are not only easy to clip, but even if you shoot RAW, recovery of detail is unikely.
Overcast skies do have a bias on light direction, though very simple. Most light comes from above (the sky acts as a huge light diffuser) and none from the ground, other than reflected. Therefore whites that are at the very top of subjects, such as with the BGH or even the white neck feathers of spoonbills, are succeptible to clipping, whites in other positions are not.
As far as a in-focus background goes; as long as there aren't any merges (need to check VF) it can work very well, though compositionally challenging. Alot of times half-way measure don't work. Either a blurred (completely OOF) or sharp focused background works. Sort of blurred does'nt. Same with motion blurs. Sort of blurred looks like a mistake, an obvious blur intentional and a great way to show motion.

regards~Bill