American Bittern (Botaurus lintiginosus), Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washington, USA
Hunting for breakfast. I’ve heard from other photographers that Bitterns are hard to catch in the refuge, but I’ve had pretty good luck over the years.
Any comments appreciated.
Is this a composite: No
Canon 7D, 300mm f/2.8, 1/250 Sec @ f/3.2, ISO 100, Beanbag support on car window.
Hi David
Nice looking American Bittern, they do blend into the background and are hard to see. The color, detail, eye contact and action are very pleasing. I would like to see a little more head room.
Peter
Interesting image showing how well they can blend with their habitat.
I think this image needs much more breathing room all the way around.
Thanks Peter and Keith, I wish I could have had more room, but this was full frame, no crop at 600mm. And no room to back up. But I agree that it could use some breathing room.
Since this is already full frame, I was curious how well PS content aware crop might work to add some canvas all the way around. This is the result after a couple of canvas adds, and a little bit of cloning to touch up some obvious errors. Not perfect, but with a bit more time…
Wow, that is pretty dang cool, Keith.
Amazing species, and yes they are hard to get - so you are a lucky person 
… Love the colours. Cheers, Hans
