It was not until I saw the shots I took, that the strength of the Squacco heron during hunting showed up so clearly. The bird walks over the Water lily leaves looking for its preys, very slowly, scanning the water, then suddenly springs into incredible action. That's the best moment to shoot to take very dynamic pictures. Also, since the weight of the bird tends to make it sink while walking on the floating leaves, you can predict when this heron will spread the wings to "stay up" and that is also another moment when you fire your shots. The mating season is a good moment because it brings a very colorful plumage and also the beak is colored of a bright blue, and that makes the photos more interesting.
I took pictures during two different moments with different conditions in the setting and lighting. The first time the Water lilys were all in bloom giving the setting a wonderful look. The light was harsh, though, because it was midday. The second time it was early morning, so the light was nicer, but it was later in the season and the flowers were almost all gone. Both times there were multiple challenges. I had to keep a fast shutter speed to freeze the bird's movement and at the same time a narrow aperture was needed to keep the subject in focus: Especially when the bird was springing towards the camera, the focus was very critical. The light was source of other problems, but also of opportunity. The harsh light of midday created often a back-lit effect with very interesting results. The high contrasts, however, requested some post processing work to balance the white of the wings vs the rest of the colors.
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO 320
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO 320
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO 320
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2000sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1600sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @490mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @490mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @490mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640
EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @533mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 800
I took pictures during two different moments with different conditions in the setting and lighting. The first time the Water lilys were all in bloom giving the setting a wonderful look. The light was harsh, though, because it was midday. The second time it was early morning, so the light was nicer, but it was later in the season and the flowers were almost all gone. Both times there were multiple challenges. I had to keep a fast shutter speed to freeze the bird's movement and at the same time a narrow aperture was needed to keep the subject in focus: Especially when the bird was springing towards the camera, the focus was very critical. The light was source of other problems, but also of opportunity. The harsh light of midday created often a back-lit effect with very interesting results. The high contrasts, however, requested some post processing work to balance the white of the wings vs the rest of the colors.
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