From the Field
January 2010 -
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There are many species in this country which while being common and easily located can be desperately difficult to photograph. I decided when I took up wildlife photography that I would try to succeed where so many others perhaps haven’t tried so hard; not because they have necessarily ignored these subjects but because for one reason or another they have turned out to be less easy than had been hoped. Species like buzzards and the subject of this piece, herons, are everywhere, but can require an awful lot of valuable time to capture on camera which can seem to be almost wasted on such common birds.
Over the course of last summer, I spent a lot of time hiding in the margins of a secluded lake in an effort to get some really good shots, but I quickly discovered that herons are very easy to see and very difficult to get close to. I didn’t so much fail, as just never quite got the shots I wanted, initially because they just would not come close enough and then when they did, the light and background were appallingly difficult. I got a great many shots that were sharp and showed interesting behaviour but were marred by specular highlights and clutter. Probably my favourite was this one with the damselfly hovering right in front of the bird’s face, but you can see how distracting those out of focus highlights are. Even so I feel it says everything about the atmosphere of these lakes in high summer, at least to me.
This winter’s prolonged cold spell has brought many extra visitors from the continent; in particular there are a lot more bitterns about than usual and one had been regularly reported at our local nature reserve in Leicester. Mark Green and I have visited it a couple of times recently but although on the first occasion we came away with a few nice shots of reed buntings in the snow, we failed totally with the bitterns.
This second time we came within ten minutes of seeing one, but by the time we reached the hide it was gone again.
Walking a little despondently back towards the car however I spotted this heron feeding in a drainage ditch which ran beneath the path and it was very close. We set up as quietly and carefully as possible and were rewarded with a wonderful hour’s photography in the presence of this beautiful and trusting bird.
He appeared untroubled by our presence as long as we didn’t make any sudden movements, and fed confidently among the marginal reeds catching small perch and other fry. In fact for the first time in my life the biggest problem I had photographing a heron was that he was too close.
Due to the fact that we had no choice but to shoot through the wooden rails at the side of the bridge, moving further away was not an option because they then intruded into the picture.
The larger sensor (and consequently smaller crop factor)on Mark’s 1D Mk3 camera was a distinct advantage enabling him to get the whole bird in frame when I couldn’t; but as luck would have it, a passing dog got too close and the bird moved across the ditch until it was just the right distance away.
Eventually the light became just too bad and we left him in peace, perched on this ditch side log.
The light had never been good and speeds above 1/80 second were unattainable at iso 250 which I was using. I find it a lot easier to get sharp results at low speeds when the subject is very close. I guess that as the lens wobbles, the subject moves further across the frame the further away it is. Even so a lot still went in the bin, but I have no complaints. None that is except the usual one when I think of all the shots that I might have taken but never thought of at the time. Add in the ones that I like but which could have been better with slightly different framing and I have just the excuse I need to keep chasing a better shot still.
Getting this close to the heron allowed me to get some shots that have a very intimate feel to them, almost as though the viewer is looking over the birds shoulder as it hunts. Their feathers are quite spectacular , but lose detail when photographed from any normal distance, so I was pleased with the detail in this shot although if I had been able, I would certainly have tried not to cut off his tail.
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