lagoon

Semipalmated Plover Image and a Critique

By Mia McPherson, on May 13th, 2013%

Semipalmated Plover on mudflats

While I was working on my Snowy Egret post from yesterday I wandered through some of my older files and came across this Semipalmated Plover image and it struck me that I had something to say about a critique I had gotten about it when I posted it to an image critique forum I used to be active on. The comment “ruffled my feathers” a bit at that time and recalling what was said made me feel the same way all over again.

Critique forums can be invaluable when learning the craft of photography because most of the thoughtful comments are helpful while some other comments aren’t really helpful at all. Early on I learned a lot from the generous members of the forum who offered help and were honest in their assessment of the files I posted, I am very grateful for those people.

This was the comment:

Very nice, great job on the exposure and I like your comp, maybe just a bit lower angle would make it even better (little silly emoticons of beer mugs knocking together displayed here).

The comment may seem wonderful because it talks about the great job on the exposure and composition but what bothered me was the comment about a bit of a lower angle might have made it even better.

Just looking at the image gives the viewer the idea that I had to be low to the ground when the image was created, this is a tiny little plover on the exposed mudflats after the tide had receded and those little mounds of sand were created by even tinier crabs. My upper half was laying in the slimy mud while my lower half was in the shallow water, the bird was close to the edge of the mudflat with the gentle slope leading to the sand dunes behind it and the bird was actually located just slightly above me.

If the person commenting had noticed what I wrote and the things I mentioned above they would have realized that their comment didn’t make much sense. Had I been any lower the sand from the crabs burrows would have become more of a distraction at the bottom of the frame and that could have ruined the image. So I kind of hope the commenter had been joking.

Besides, to have gotten any lower than the Semipalmated Plover I would have had to have crawled down the burrow of one of those crabs and while I don’t mind getting down and dirty to get my images that would have been taking it just a bit too far.

Yes, I hope he was joking.

Mia

~I’m going to be out of town but will be back soon, please feel free to share this post with your friends and family!

Roseate Spoonbills in a sea fog

By Mia McPherson, on January 9th, 2013%

Roseate Spoonbills in a sea fog – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/180, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 250mm, natural light

One very foggy May morning I came across a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills in a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto’s north beach and photograph them for about 15 minutes before they flew off to find food. The fog muffled the sounds of the waves of the Gulf of Mexico rushing onto the shore just beyond the sand dunes you can see behind these two birds and the fog felt great on my skin that very warm morning. The adult Roseates were mostly resting but the juvenile pictured above began to preen while I laid in the tidal mud observing and photographing these large, pink wading birds.

Photographing in fog presents challenges in determining exposure, aperture, shutter speed and ISO, for this image I used a lower ISO because I wanted as much detail as I could achieve and while that gave me a low shutter speed the juvenile Roseate wasn’t moving quickly and that helped to get sharp images. This image did have a small amount of Noise Reduction applied to everything except the preening juvenile Roseate Spoonbill to smooth out some of the noise I could detect prior to post processing.

Mia

More Roseate Spoonbill images

Calm Snowy Egret

By Mia McPherson, on January 7th, 2013%

Calm Snowy Egret – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 360mm, natural light

This image soothes me because of the still water, the relaxed pose of the Snowy Egret and the memories of how delightful it was to be on the north beach of Fort De Soto with my fellow photographer friends with the warmth of the rising sun on my back as I lay in the tidal mud next to this lagoon. Calm is the first thing I think of when I view this photo.

Who doesn’t need “calm” in their lives now and then? I know I do. Sometimes more than others.

Mia

More Snowy Egret images

Little Blue Heron on the hunt

By Mia McPherson, on August 11th, 2012%

Little Blue Heron on the Hunt – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/750, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 340mm, natural light

This Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) was photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a shallow lagoon the edge of a marsh in late afternoon light. The heron stalked small fish, crabs and shrimp while I sat in the warm water photographing it and the other birds nearby.

Mia

More Little Blue Heron images

Little Blue Heron hunting in a lagoon

By Mia McPherson, on November 5th, 2011%

Little Blue Heron hunting
Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f5.6, 1/320, ISO 500, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 185mm, natural light

Little Blue Herons were a wading bird that I saw often in Florida. The day I photographed this Little Blue Heron I was sitting quietly in the shallow water of a lagoon when this bird flew in and began to hunt. Nearby mangroves reflections made the water appear green and I felt that complimented the heron’s coloring nicely. This heron paid very little attention to me while I photographed it, maybe it just thought I was an odd looking piece of driftwood.

No matter what the bird thought of me sitting there clicking my shutter button I was able to take many images of this bird as it stalked small fish and shrimp in the lagoon that morning.

Pretty great way to start the day. Any day really.

Mia

More Little Blue Heron images