Dawn comes after dusk has long passed...

[PJohnP]

I've been a trifle delinquent in posting for some time, so I'll just "drop" a few other bird photos with little comment other than that these were taken at dawn last weekend. Another set of fun birds I see when I have a moment or two in this location (some of you may recall my shots of one of these with a large catfish last summer).

Dawn had literally just burst forth for these shots, taken over two mornings, as I stalked these black-crowned night herons. Interesting problem to get the exposure locked in with sharp light reflected almost parallel to the water's surface. A fun challenge, though...

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Male, female, and immature black-crowned night herons, Odessa, TX

The immature is a new addition to the group from last year, but has a wonderful colour in the eyes.

Always shoot.



John P.

P.S. In editing for a couple of typos, I realised that I had omitted the brief comment - all shots uncropped.

 

[PhotoDawg]

OH MAN!! John your shots are amazing!! Love the reflection in the last two and the terrific detail in your first capture. WOW!!

 

[PJohnP]

OH MAN!! John your shots are amazing!! Love the reflection in the last two and the terrific detail in your first capture. WOW!!

Dawg :


Again, thanks for the kind thoughts. I'm lucky enough to visit some "target-rich environments". All I really need to do is point the camera and make some adjustments here and there... sort of. :mrgreen:

It's funny to me how people here in Odessa react to my photographs, often disbelieving that I've captured these images almost literally in their backyards. I guess it helps to come from another location, so that I can appreciate their city and environs.


John P.

 

[Keith]

Beautifully done John, have to echo Dawg's comments, luv the reflections on dead flat water, great color, composition and nailed exposure. awesome.....what combo if you dont mind me asking......... Im jealous of your back yard, mine is nothing like that. LOL

 

[greyflash]

Very nice with exceptional lighting. Way to go.

 

[PJohnP]

Beautifully done John, have to echo Dawg's comments, luv the reflections on dead flat water, great color, composition and nailed exposure. awesome.....what combo if you dont mind me asking......... Im jealous of your back yard, mine is nothing like that. LOL

Keith :

Heh. That's the back yard of my hotel !!! My back yard has deer, coyotes, and hopefully when I return, hummingbirds in spring migration. But not a large body of water... :lol: :lol:

Travel has its annoying sides, but I'm lucky to be able to find such interesting sights. As I've noted elsewhere, it's often just a case of seeing the opportunity, and just point the camera (mostly).

As for my combo, it was a D100 and a 200-400mm AFS/VR with the TC14EII, shot handheld.

Thanks for the kind words.


John P.

 

[Flew]

Very nice indeed John!! I love shooting ducks and geese, but after your 5,000th pic of these guys, you start to long for something different. Hopefully, we'll see a few of these in Merritt in June. Wish you could come. :wink:

Frank

 

[PJohnP]

Very nice indeed John!! I love shooting ducks and geese, but after your 5,000th pic of these guys, you start to long for something different. Hopefully, we'll see a few of these in Merritt in June. Wish you could come. :wink:

Frank :

Heh. Well, I shoot raptors like you shoot ducks, so I guess I'm in a rut myself. :twisted: :roll: :twisted:

But what a fun rut !


John P.

 

[Bubba]

Those are really nice. The reflections are incredible.

 

[Gale]

Superb images. Super light, just right spot on..
Thank you for sharing.