Snowy Egrets | on the wing photography

Snowy Egret – Moody Blues

By Mia McPherson, on May 18th, 2012%

Snowy Egret - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural, low light

Yesterday I posted a Snowy Egret in flight in what many bird photographers would call good light and the image had wonderful dynamics because of the action of the bird.

This Snowy Egret image was taken just after the sun had risen above the horizon in about the same location as the egret image I posted yesterday but at a completely different time of the year, September of 2008.

This image conveys a very different mood but both Snowy Egret images have wonderful appeal for me.

Mia

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Snowy Egret – Show Me Those Golden Slippers!

By Mia McPherson, on May 17th, 2012%

I was photographing at Fort De Soto’s north beach on May 30th, 2008 when I had a very cooperative Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) start fishing in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico right in front of me.

Snowy Egret about to land - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 185mm, natural light, not baited

People have nicknamed Snowy Egrets “Golden Slippers” because of their yellow feet, this image really shows off those yellow feet.

I have a very nice series of images of this Snowy, all of them photographed with me sitting on the sand instead of laying on it like I do for smaller shorebirds. I still had Sandy Pants at the end of the day though.

Love that beautiful snowy white plumage against the rich blues of the Gulf!

Mia

*I pre-scheduled this post because I am away, please feel free to share this with your friends & family!

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Shades of Blue – Friday Photos

By Mia McPherson, on April 27th, 2012%

Snowy Egret - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light

Just a simple image of a Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) today. I photographed this Egret as it stalked prey along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.

This photo was taken around mid day, much later than I normally like to be out photographing because the light can get harsh. The reason why this image does not show that harshness is that the Snowy Egret was in the shade of a tree and that softened the light. The shade also created some wonderful shades of blue in the water.

Mia

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Hunting Snowy Egret

By Mia McPherson, on April 11th, 2012%

I love the challenge of photographing white birds and getting the exposures right, I like to nail it. Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula) are great birds to practice getting exposures of the whites set correctly.

Hunting Snowy Egret - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/2000, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm at 300mm, natural light

I photographed this Snowy Egret while it was hunting in a lagoon at Fort De Soto’s north beach. I was in the water with the bird and it ignored me completely, it probably didn’t feel threatened by me because I made myself kneel very still in the warm saltwater. I was able to shoot a very nice series of this egret while it hunted for its prey, now I need to find the time to edit the rest of them!

The light was at such a wonderful angle that I didn’t need to use any exposure compensation, gotta love that!

Mia

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Rainy Days – Time to Review and Redo

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

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.

Snow Egret (Egretta thula) with open bill

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