Green heron scratching an itch

[Ryan von Linden]

1DX, 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III, Manual, f/5.6, 1/2500, ISO 500, handheld

I had three green herons hanging out on this snag that had fallen into the creek. I was photographing from my kayak and had to keep repositioning myself because this was moving water. They went on about their business and didn't pay any attention to me even though I was repeatedly drifting past them only 15 feet or so away.

[keith mitchell]

Great scratching pose you have caught ,that dark bg really makes this bird stand out,nice work.

[Bill Dix]

Terrific pose, and the dark bg works nicely. I wish for more room all around.

[Ryan von Linden]

Terrific pose, and the dark bg works nicely. I wish for more room all around.

Unfortunately I had drifted in quite close on this one so I don't have much more to work with. I did crop slightly because of a branch that was cutting up diagonally across the lower right corner and cropping was faster than cloning. Here it is with the branch cloned out and very nearly the full frame, just a tiny crop to straighten things ever so slightly.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love it when they raise they crest like we see here. Sharp, and yes the dark BG really sets the subject off. The TC was too much here, but I imagine this is not something you want to start fiddling with on a kayak! Unfortunate about the object in front of the perch in lower left corner.