There are fires in northern Minnesota & southern Ontario so it was super hazy and smoky out on the water yesterday. The light was really weird as a result so I tried my best with this shot. It’s a juvenile great blue heron in the middle of the river where it’s wide and shallow in a lot of places. I was in a kayak a couple hundred yards away parked in some weeds to hold me still. This was the only fish I saw it catch, but it was nice to be on the spot for it. One of three herons I saw that day, two GBHs and one Greenie.
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The white balance is especially killing me. I think maybe cooler? Oy vey.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Handheld in the boat, elbows on knees.
Lightroom for initial wb adjustment, white & black points, clarity and texture. And the crop. Then into Topaz Sharpen. Back to Lr for a few more tweaks.
Hi Kris, I actually like the warmer image more. We’ve had a lot of smokey days around here too and that warm, strange light really makes for an interesting color balance. Of course, I am a bit color blind, so take that for what it’s worth.
I like the action you caught too, with the fish in the beak. Well done.
I really like the low perspective Kris. And the details are excellent Ms. “Shoots with Elbows on Knees” (I’m giving you this name ). Lots of reach at 800mm equivalent. My question is…how close or far away were you from this little one?
Thanks @Mark_Muller & @David_Bostock - the light was weird all day and I could smell smoke actively as well. I knew the fires had to be close and they are, sadly. The UP and northern Minnesota have had very little rain this year. Weirdly, down here in northern Wisconsin we’ve had plenty.
I was a couple hundred yards away from this youngster and the water was absolutely flat. Although there was current, there wasn’t any wind and the water was glassy all day. But the light was weird and so my struggles with white balance. I tend to favor the warmer, too, David.
Will wear “Elbows on Knees” with pride, Mark. It’s how I do a lot of kayak shooting. That or braced on my life jacket if I’m wearing one which I wasn’t that day.
Thanks, @David_Schoen - I do too, but you know how if you look at an image for a long time it loses a bit of reality? That’s what’s happening here. Glad the warmer is the better since that was my first instinct.
Hi Kris. I tend to like both images. The warmer one probably reflects the actual conditions more, but the cooler one is closer to the coloration I usually think of for this species. It’s a fine image either way.
Hi Kristen
Nice Kayaking photograph. I would go with the color shot, you can see how the sun reflects of the smoke. Stay safe and please bring us more photographs.
Peter
This is an excellent photo of the Great Blue Heron Kristen! Shooting from a kayak makes for a nice low angle shot which works very well for this scene. I also like that the image contains the birds environment which puts it all in context. Very nice detail also, especially for a full zoom shot while floating! As for the color adjustments, I personally prefer the second version as the colors appear to be much more realistic, especially for this bird. Nicely done!
). Lots of reach at 800mm equivalent. My question is…how close or far away were you from this little one?