GBHs at sunset [9 images]

Watching and photographing this sequence was thrilling. I hope a little bit of that comes through the images.

Gordon

#1

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

#2

View attachment 14880

#3

View attachment 14881

#4

View attachment 14882

#5

View attachment 14883

#6

View attachment 14884

#7

View attachment 14885

#8

View attachment 14886

#9

View attachment 14887

 

Thanks Rory! Amazingly there was no visible noise in the full originals, perhaps because of the unusual light and high contrast. Usually I do see noise at 800 from my D2x, but the images are always usable with a little work.

Gordon

 

Thanks Gordon. When I was shooting it didn't occur to me that the style had almost an Oriental look; I was just looking for the best images I could get of a beautiful scene playing out in front of me. But when I looked at the results, the similarity struck me. And pleased me, because the simple, elegant lines of the best Chinese and other Oriental art is right at the top of my "darn I wish I owned that" list.

Gordon

 

Thanks Keith. I agree with you on both reflections and flight. But IMO not all the images worked with reflections, and I was really trying to tell a story and the plot line had to include both BIF and BNIF.

Gordon

 

Thanks Dao. You might want to take a quick look at my response to Greyflash.

Gordon

 

Thanks Gale. They were fun to take.

Gordon

 

Thanks Mike. Blast is an understatement. These were taken at a small Nature Center in Peace Valley Park, which is near Doylestown PA and only about 20 minutes from where I live. Didn't even know about it until a few weeks ago. Early morning and late afternoon you can literally stand on a bridge (no cars) and shoot until the lights go out. One GBH and one Green Heron are always there. Many more in the area which occasionally come within shooting distance. Lots of night herons which don't. Lots of cormorants which do. Kingfishers. It's a long narrow lake and the natural flight path is straight up and down, so "incoming" tells you exactly where to look. Common examples are Red-tailed Hawks and Ospreys. I've got one shot of a Bald Eagle flying way overhead; there are two there. Great place which only local birders seem to know about.

Gordon

 

Thanks Harry. Didn't have any other option on the silhouette thing unless I had one heck of a big Best Beamer.
Gordon

 

Exactly what I thought when I saw them
Good work!!

 

Mike -
You won't regret it! If you are heading toward Doylestown on 313, look for New Galena Road on your right. A left on Chapman Road - which has sign for the Nature Center - takes you to the parking lot. If you hit the 611 bypass around Doylestown you've gone too far. Let me know even on short notice when you go and I'll meet you there.
Gordon

 

Thanks Phil! They were fun to shoot.
Gordon