XtopherRobin

Great Blue Heron

Feb, 2016

Views

239

Likes

Awards

2020 Choice Award

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Choice

Outstanding Creativity

Peer Award

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Behind The Lens

Location

I work at a flour mill in Oakland, California. The parking lot of my work sits beside the Oakland-Alameda Estuary and this is where I captured this image. There's a dock that sits parallel to edge of the shore that has no access from land making it a perfect refuge for the birds that hunt and feed from the estuary. I spend my breaks sitting in my car watching this dock and the wildlife that congregate on it and under it with my camera ready to shoot in the passenger seat.

Time

This photo was taken in the early evening when most of the birds that fish for dinner are either hunting or resting while they digest their full stomachs.

Lighting

The subject in this photo was backlit, and shadowed on the side facing me, but lucky enough the building behind me is seven stories of solid beige wall that acts as pretty decent light reflector. The building gives me just enough light to be able capture the details that are being shaded.

Equipment

I used my Nikon D5300 with a Nikon DX Nikkor 55-300mm lens. My tripod was me sitting on the ground resting my elbows against my body and resting the lens on my knees.

Inspiration

This spot is just an amazing inner-city wildlife refuge. All sorts of animals use this area to feed and rest; Great blue herons, egrets, hawks, pelicans, kingfishers, ducks, geese, ravens, crows, seals, stingrays, racoons, and city employed cats. Any time I don't bring my camera I end up regretting it.

Editing

I did some digital dodge and burn to bring out more details in the feathers, face, ropes, and the dock. Also, I recroped the image to bring more focus to the subjects.

In my camera bag

When I'm at work I usually have two lenses. The one mentioned above is the one I use the most and for close up photos I use a Nikon DX Nikkor 18-55mm lens.

Feedback

Be patient and be prepared to take a lot of photos of one subject. Especially for wildlife photography in an instant moment the perfect image could be captured or lost.

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XtopherRobin

XtopherRobin

Great Blue Heron

Behind The Lens

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