Snowy Egret with Turtle.
This Snowy Egret was preening its feathers at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens while being watched by a turtle.
This Snowy Egret was preening its feathers at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens while being watched by a turtle.
Read less
Read less
D5500
Aperture f/6.3 ISO 100 Shutter 624/1000000 Focal Length 400/1 
San Francisco, California, US
Jan, 2021Views
114
Likes
Awards
Spring 21 Award
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 30 rank
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken in the San Francisco Botanical Garden. At certain times of the year, birds come here to catch fish in one of the ponds.Time
This was in the afternoon which is when I typically visit the Garden.Lighting
This was in direct sunshine making the exposure of the feathers challenging. I used spot metering and underexposed by at least one stop.Equipment
This was shot with a Nikon D5500 with a Tamron 18-400 mm at 400 mm.Inspiration
I love taking photographs of birds and capturing them doing something besides just standing. In this case, the Snowy Egret was shaking out its feathers which only lasts a few seconds so I was lucky to get it. Only later did I notice that the turtle was watching it too...Editing
I desaturated and darkened the foliage as it was distracting. I always use Topaz AI Clear to sharpen and it did improve this image.In my camera bag
I have a variety of filters including a circular polarizer and a variable and 10 stop neutral density filter.Feedback
When photographing birds you need to be very patient and keep them in view with your hand on the shutter as things happen very quickly and then the action is over for a while. It may be a minute, or, it may be an hour before something worth photographing happens again. Good luck!
