Juvenile Night Heron
Juvenile Night Heron
Juvenile Night Heron
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Aug, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Lake Martin, Cypress Island Preserve. Lake Martin is a natural body of water within a Cypress-Tupelo Swamp, located in the Southern part of Louisiana, not far from the Gulf of Mexico. The Preserve has one of the largest waterbird rookeries in North America, with 13 species of water birds. I'm lucky to live only 8 1/2 miles from Lake Martin, so I spend a lot of time there. :) :)Time
Several days a week, I get to Lake Martin before sunrise and I stay there till after sunset. This photo was taken in the early morning.Lighting
My favorite time to take photos is in the early morning hours. I get to the lake about 1/2 an hour before sunrise to get my camera set up on the car window mount. All of the wildlife & insects in the area: birds, alligators, turtles, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. start stirring at this time. I also love overcast & foggy days--great for swamp photos.Equipment
My camera is a point & shoot---Canon Powershot sx60hs. Eighty-five % of my photos are taken from my car, using a car window camera mount (Vanguard PH-304 camera mount). I take photos from my car due to alligators and my arthritic knees. :) :)Inspiration
Lake Martin is beautiful in any weather and during any seasonal changes. I have a favorite cove in the lake that has a huge, old cypress tree in the center. The top of the tree was lopped off by a hurricane, but it retained its beauty. This tree is home to wood ducks, pileated woodpeckers, & black-bellied whistling ducks--and is a perch for eagles, hawks, owls, herons, etc. At the base of the tree are old logs floating in the water. Several species use the logs to fish from. When I got to the cove, this Juvenile, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron landed on one of the logs. It spent a while looking for food, then preening. The heron was nice enough to stand still for several minutes so I zoomed in and got this shot.Editing
I did a bit of cropping and adjusted the contrast.In my camera bag
I have my Canon Powershot sx-60 hs camera and 15 batteries. I often spend more on batteries than on the camera :) My reason for so many batteries is to always be ready for any shot. When I first started taking photos in 2008, a mother wood duck and her 12 babies jumped out of a hole in a tree into the lake. By the time I turned on my camera, the ducks had flown away. Since that day, whenever I am out taking photos, my camera remains on. I'm often in isolated areas that have bears, wild boar, bobcats, & alligators (mostly alligators), so I have a Pepper-spray gun that shoots out 40 feet. I've never tested it, but hopefully, if an alligator decides that I look like lunch, the pepper spray will give me time to get away. :) :)Feedback
The reason I've been able to capture some great moments is often just luck--being in the right place at the right time. However, one of the most important things is patience!!! I can sit in one spot for a couple of hours and end up with 800&bt; shots. I set up a reference folder for myself, listing each season and which birds will be present in my area at those times. I also list directions to nests that I've located, and I've learned several bird calls.
