By Mia McPherson, on February 25th, 2012%  Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in low light ~ Fort De Soto County Park, Florida
Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 240mm, natural light
The sun had not yet crested the eastern horizon when I photographed this Great Blue Heron as it hunted in the shallow waters on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico. Although I could have waited for better light I wanted to capture this heron as it stalked its prey just before the golden light of dawn arrived so I laid down on the sugar sand created a nice series of images of this bird. The tide was very low that morning and that exposed an off shore sandbar that is seen on the horizon as a gray line and just above that is the Earth’s shadow.
Mia
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By Mia McPherson, on January 10th, 2012% 
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at sunrise ~ Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/320, ISO 500, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Just a single image today but an image that I like for its simplicity, morning light, composition, fine detail and watery background. Another one of the reasons I enjoy this photo is that the eye of the Great Blue Heron has a colored catchlight that is from the sun glowing yellow on the eastern horizon. Most catchlights are white but at sunrise and sunset colored catchlights are possible.
I used a pano crop for this image to accentuate the long bill of the heron and I think it worked quite well.
Mia
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By Mia McPherson, on October 23rd, 2011% 
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) with Earth Shadow
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/320, ISO 640, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 340mm, natural light
When I look at this image I can recall the morning that I created this file with a great degree of clarity. The sun had not quite risen above the horizon to the east but there was a touch of pre-dawn light, the Earth’s Shadow was visible to the naked eye. I’ve always been thrilled to see the Earth’s shadow.
The wind was blowing at about 35 knots (40 mph), waves were crashing onto shore behind the dune the heron was on, grasses were bent low and the fine grained sugar sand; hurled by the strong wind, stung my exposed skin. Not the most pleasant circumstances but for some reason I felt especially invigorated that morning. I’m not sure if it was the cool wind, seeing the Earth Shadow, being outdoors immersed in nature or a combination of all of the above.
Low lighting conditions can be a difficult challenge for bird photographers who shoot in aperture priority (I do) because shutter speed drops dramatically when there is little available light.
Not too many months before I photographed this Great Blue Heron I had always hesitated to use ISO’s above 320, I had heard so many other owners of Nikon’s D200 complain a lot about the bad noise issues they had encountered using ISO’s over 320. I had listened to those warnings for awhile after getting the D200 but then decided to do some experimenting on my own. On a morning with very low light I photographed another Great Blue Heron at ISO 1000 and when I looked at the image on my monitor at home I found very little evident noise in those frames and soon became bolder at using higher ISO’s.
Sometimes it pays to experiment, stretch your skills or to push your gear’s limit a bit. I’m glad I had experimented with higher ISO’s in the months prior to the morning I photographed this Great Blue Heron or I may have walked on by the bird thinking I couldn’t get enough shutter speed, so why bother. I am happy that thought didn’t occur to me.
The Great Blue Heron images from the series I created that blustery November morning on Fort De Soto’s north beach are still favorites of mine and likely always will be.
Mia
Another Great Blue Heron image from that morning can be found here.
More Great Blue Heron images
By Mia McPherson, on August 2nd, 2011% 
White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) in the surf
Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D70, handheld, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light
Yesterday the monsoons came up from the south which meant lots of rain on moisture laden winds. It brought bad light along with it. It was not optimal for bird photography I had hoped to do so I decided to open up some folder of images I had taken in 2007 and review them again. My life gets pretty busy so I don’t often get the opportunity to go that far back.
Rainy days are a perfect time to go back, review and possibly redo. My skills as a photographer have grown since then and the techniques I use in post processing have become more refined. After not seeing the images for so long I can look at them with fresh eyes too.
I’m not sure why I had never processed the White Ibis image above until yesterday. I love the splashing surf, how the blue eye of the White Ibis matches the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico that is behind it. I also like the raised foot and how the light seemed to light up the plumage of the bird.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) about to strike
Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D70, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 240mm, natural light
I found several images I couldn’t resist processing and the Great Blue Heron above was another one that seemed to catch my eye. The heron was so intent on hunting small baitfish that were being washed up into the shallows by the waves that it barely paid attention to me while I sat on the sloping shore photographing it. I’m glad I’m not a small fish, that bill looks razor sharp.
These images were taken with an “ancient” Nikon D70 and the Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens which doesn’t have a whole lot of reach for bird photography but in some places it is enough. Many of birds on or near the beaches in Florida are used to people walking by, running along the beach or gathering shells so they aren’t as likely to take flight as soon as birds will that aren’t used to being around people.
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) with open bill
Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D70, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light
I really like the open bill of this Snowy Egret, the way the light struck the white feathers of the bird and the beautiful blue water. Again; I’m not sure why it took me so long to process this image.
Rainy days aren’t so bad.
Mia
By Mia McPherson, on January 8th, 2011% 
Close Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) fly by
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
D200, f5.6, 1/1600, ISO 500, 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light
My good friend Ron chides me for being the “eternal optimist” and I do deserve the teasing he often gives me. I’m even optimistic on these gray, dreary and cloudy days. It seems there is always something to do even when the weather thwarts plans for going out to find birds to photograph because I know I’ll find something wonderful or fulfilling to do.
I’ve been busy cooking today, I made two kinds of homemade soup. It smelled wonderful at home with the savory aromas of simmering soup wafting through the house. I also prepared the fixings for Chicken Monterey so I could wrap them up and freeze them for an easy meal when the weather does open up for bird photography.
Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus): You lookin’ at me?
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
D200, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 200, 80-400mm VR, natural light
Gray days sometimes force me to slow down, to take a deep breath and they allow me the luxury of liesurely looking through my older image files one folder at a time. I’m often busy out in the field taking images of birds, so busy that there are days when I only get to edit a few files in a folder on the day I take the photos. So on gray days I revisit those folders and say hello to my “old friends”, the birds in the files. I swear I’m not hyper but I can’t seem to resist selecting pictures to edit that I had not processed earlier.
Long & Lean Great Blue Heron
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
D200, f5.6, 1/1500, ISO 400, 80-400mm VR, natural light
I’m not sure how or why I ended up looking at images from the folder that contained all of the images in this post but I’m glad I opened the folder up again. I can once again feel the wet sand under my body as I wiggle through it trying to get the best possible angles for the shots. I can smell the salt water, watch the feathers of the birds flutter in the sea breeze and feel the warmth of the sun caress me as I focus on my subjects. While it is gray outside it doesn’t feel that way inside my mind.
There are quite a few images in this folder I had not edited yet but today because the of the grayness outdoors, I have time.
Royal Tern busy preening
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
D200, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 200, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
The soups are done and stored away. It’s getting dark and I’m waiting for the snow to start falling from this storm. Despite it being a gray day it has been fulfilling.
Got to go, there are more older bird images I want to edit.
Mia
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Photographing a Tricolored Heron from a tidal lagoon
Focusing on Wildlife Contributor
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