Great Blue Heron perched on a branch being illuminated by the setting sun with the moon behind it.

20191008 – Great Blue Heron
Brown Deer Park, Brown Deer, WI

I was at the park taking photos of the Cedar Waxing’s eating berries and even managed to get a commercial jet passing in front of the moon. Kind of neat, but not really important. Around 5:30 they disappeared for the night, so I went to the pond to walk around. When I arrived, the Great Blue Heron was perched in the tree. I parked my car and as I walked to toward the Great Blue Heron, I could see the moon above the Heron in the trees. To get the photograph I wanted, I had to get closer. So, I slowly and cautiously moved to where I needed to be while the bird was preening.

I was able to get a number of great photos of the bird in this light as I approached the position I needed to be in, but this photo is definitely my favorite. For this photo, I am looking South, the moon is rising from the east through the clouds, as the sunsets to the west (left.) To get a little bit of detail in the moon, I took two photos, one with the Heron in focus and the second with the moon in focus. I then used software to “Focus” stack the two photos, a technique frequently used in macro photography and sometimes in landscape photography. In hindsight I wish I had taken one more with the branches in the background in focus, but I think I can settle with this photo.

I wish the moon was brighter, and I could have done it in post, but I decided being realistic was more important than being dramatic.


Camera: Canon 5D Mark IV with Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary Lens
Camera Settings: 1/2000 Second, F/6.3, ISO 1600, 600mm, Equivalent 600mm, Manual Mode – No EV


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