Snowy Egret in flight

[Diane Miller]

There is an egret rookery near me, and I often find good shots there. They are apparently still doing some nest building, or repair work. This was shot yesterday, Canon 5D Mk III, 600mm II. Big Gitzo with Wimberley II. ISO 800, f/9, 1/2500 sec. 42% of full frame. Basic LR adjustments then to PS CS6 for a small amount of Detail Extractor and NR.

The Snowys seem to favor less elegant sticks than do the Greats, but it's easier to catch this nice wing position, possibly because they are flying uphill and the Greats are coming in from high in nearby trees on a more level trajectory. This flight path, which the Snowys favor (or maybe it's always the same very busy individual?) is more or less parallel to the sensor and I'm getting a decent percentage in focus as I shoot a burst.

C&C always welcome, and learned from.

[Frank Schauf]

Nice in flight pose, good capture.

[Ian Wilson]

Looks like you are sorting out your BIF camera settings very well! As this is your 'practice range' I expect we will see some more of these. Diane, the only small issue I have is the shadows in the harsh light which looks like mid-morning or mid-afternoon, otherwise all good. TFS
Regards, Ian

[Andy Shepherd]

Fantastic job re the exposure on this one, you have done really well in this tricky light, Diane. The flight pose is a good one and the twig in the beak adds to the shot.

[Binu John]

Very nice IF shot! The nesting material makes this IF shot special!

[John Robinson]

Good one Diane maybe my monitor but I reckon a slight drop in gamma might beef it up a tad. No biggie though
Good stuff.
John

[Diane Miller]

Thanks, everyone! I could darken it a bit -- will have a look. Tricky light, to be sure. I do have quite a few shots from here, of the three egrets and BCNH that nest there -- will find time to post more.

Wish I could get a more interesting context than clear sky. I'm doing OK keeping them in focus as they occasionally fly against trees, but the trees are mostly eucalyptus, in full sun, too close to the birds and and SO ugly!

I'm afraid this particular flight path, featuring this full wing stroke pattern, is mostly a full sun operation. Occasionally I can catch some clearing fog, for about 5 minutes. The weather here is typically either grungy gray or severe clear, and this particular behavior doesn't start until a couple of hours after sunrise and tapers off after about an hour.