BonnieMarquette
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Behind The Lens
Location
This shot was taken while I was shooting from a canoe in a private owned swamp in Baton Rouge during the beginning of nesting season. It's one of the largest rookeries of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons that I've ever seen.Time
Taken during mid morning.Lighting
The sky that day was actually pretty flat and overcast. I actually like shooting on flat days when I'm photographing birds because the birds will pop out and not have to compete with big, fluffy clouds or brilliant blue skies.Equipment
Hand-held using a Canon 5D Mark II, Sigma 150-500 lens, no extender, no flash.Inspiration
Nesting season is a great time to photograph Egrets and Herons providing that you don't disturb them. There is a lot of activity and the birds will actually fight and compete for prime nesting spots.Editing
This was shot in RAW, I adjusted the levels to make the bird appear almost transparent, then converted in LR to B/W making slight adjustments to the values.In my camera bag
I normally carry my Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon 7D as a backup. If I'm shooting wildlife, my Sigma 150-500 is on the 5D. I also use a Tamron 18-300 on occasion. I don't really care for tripods in the wild, so I almost always handhold.Feedback
I was lucky enough to know the owner of this swamp where the birds were nesting and was invited to come and photograph them. If you don't have access to a private piece of property, your local Nature Conservancy and other organizations have great spots. You can also run a search on the web for wildlife areas in your state that are open to the public for photography. By no means do you ever trespass or disturb the birds to get "the shot".