TRANSLUCENT
A GREAT EGRET
I spent two weekends April of 2006 at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida.
The place has been there for a hundred years and was originally a farm growing alligators for commercial use. Now it is a tourist destination and incidentally a rookery for dozens of long leg wading birds. So, the secret is out. Whenever you see a really close photograph in a magazine of a heron and it is tack sharp, chances are good the photographer made the image at the farm.
Guests at the rookery are actually feet away from nesting birds. I have even had an immature tri-colored or Louisiana Heron peck at the end of the lens as I leaned over the walkway railing.
The above image is one in which I guess you can say I was lucky again. Normally, a bird flying is back-lit by the sky and the exposure makes the subject into a silhouette. In this case the bird was not only sharp but the lighting was good. Placed in the left third of the frame and with little cropping the image is striking. During the months that these birds mate, usually in the spring, one can see Great Egrets such as this one along with Wood Storks, Cattle egret, Louisiana Herons, Little Blue Herons, and the irrepressible Snowy Egrets. Mating rituals, nesting rituals, nest building, mating, and young can all be witnessed.
That is not to say that there are many other things to see at the farm, but for the photographer this is a special place.
http://www.alligatorfarm.us/
A GREAT EGRET
I spent two weekends April of 2006 at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida.
The place has been there for a hundred years and was originally a farm growing alligators for commercial use. Now it is a tourist destination and incidentally a rookery for dozens of long leg wading birds. So, the secret is out. Whenever you see a really close photograph in a magazine of a heron and it is tack sharp, chances are good the photographer made the image at the farm.
Guests at the rookery are actually feet away from nesting birds. I have even had an immature tri-colored or Louisiana Heron peck at the end of the lens as I leaned over the walkway railing.
The above image is one in which I guess you can say I was lucky again. Normally, a bird flying is back-lit by the sky and the exposure makes the subject into a silhouette. In this case the bird was not only sharp but the lighting was good. Placed in the left third of the frame and with little cropping the image is striking. During the months that these birds mate, usually in the spring, one can see Great Egrets such as this one along with Wood Storks, Cattle egret, Louisiana Herons, Little Blue Herons, and the irrepressible Snowy Egrets. Mating rituals, nesting rituals, nest building, mating, and young can all be witnessed.
That is not to say that there are many other things to see at the farm, but for the photographer this is a special place.
http://www.alligatorfarm.us/
No comments:
Post a Comment