Feed us Mom

The sun had just risen when Mom Grey Heron returned to her nest to feed her two chicks. What chaos as each chick wanted to be fed first. Captured at a rookery last weekend in early morning light.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300mm F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/1600
F/5.6
ISO 800

Hand held

Hi Stu, great light and it's certainly helped with the whites and given a bit more 'tone' to the BKG. I wonder if a 10x8 might also work, then cropping some off the LHS and push the POV more off centre, say just past that bare branch, WDYT?

TFS
Steve

Hi Stu - Great interaction in lovely light. I also like the warmth of the image. Steve's suggestion for the crop sounds like a good alternative.

TFS,
Rachel

Killer light and terrific HA on all birds. Like the raised crest and the way the adult seems to be pulling away from those aggressive chicks' beaks.
Lot of good composition possibilities including a (gasp) square or vertical.
Love the clean rookery- usually so much bird poo to deal with .
Gail

Thanks a stack everyone. I played around with the different crops and found coming in from both sides created a squarish crop which Im not too keen on. I dont have any more space below, but a vertical is an option that would work.

Lovely looking image Stu, as said, the light is fantastic. Fab interaction, and great detail throughout. I love the facial expression on the lowest one :S3:

Thanks for sharing

Will

Hi Stu,

I quite like the foreground vegetation, and the great early morning light on the birds.

I see subtle posterization in the background on either side of the birds in the color transition from gray/mauve to gray/blue.

I had similar issues when using a program that did not process 16-bit color. I am wondering what you processed this shot with? Or could this be jpeg compression issues?

Ross

Great interaction shot, Stu. Light and poses are great.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ross Taylor

I quite like the foreground vegetation, and the great early morning light on the birds.



I had similar issues when using a program that did not process 16-bit color. I am wondering what you processed this shot with? Or could this be jpeg compression issues?

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Thanks Ross. I did process this in 16 bit, and it could also be jpeg compression.

You captured the crazy feeding behavior well, Stu. I love seeing the raised crown on the adult. The kids really mangle the adults during nesting season from all the feeding.

Excellent image Stu! I like the interaction, setting and raised crown. I like Steve's composition suggestion.