A Good Catch in the Field, a photo from British Columbia, Western

Photographer's Note

Yesterday afternoon I checked out the blooming status of a tulip field in the Valley. Enjoying the afternoon sunshine with brilliant color everywhere around me, I enjoyed some creative time with tulips and my camera.

Then near the edge of the field I saw a head pop up for a quick second. This heron saw me and then ducked down between the tulips and walked away from me. I carefully walked silently towards the bird and thought I lost it's where abouts. Just before I thought it had me fooled it stood up tall as you see in this photo. Having only the 70-200 F4 lens attached on my Xti was enough to capture this photo. I shot this photo at ISO 400 to make sure the shutter speed would freeze the moment. I could never have this much image quality at 400 ISO with the 300D.
The Fraser Valley has an abundance of Blue Herons. I have seen quite a few of them but never had the chance to capture one like this. The fact that it was in the tulip field made this even more unique for me. And that was why I wanted to share it with my trek friends. Thank you.

arfer, Jeppe, jwmunro, gneufeld, pierrefonds, jazu, banyanman has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

arfer (25) 2007-04-15 23:53

Hello Paul

How fortuitous.A wonderful capture to get this Great Blue Heron in such a beautiful setting.Excellent colour saturation.The DOF and POV is well managed.The focus is very good with sharp details.Nicely done.TFS

Rob

Cormac (26565) 2007-04-15 23:59

Great colour and I lile the selective focus of this, with the bird in focus and the surrounding flowers blurred. Excellent!

trinko (2950) 2007-04-16 0:33

very interesting setting. good colors although the tulips seem a little dull nice focus and good DOF

BrittanyS (229) 2007-04-16 1:02

Talk about a good catch! First with having all of those beautiful bright tulips, then completed with such a magnificent subject! Congrats on this find and the image was very well executed :)

jjcordier (79299) 2007-04-16 2:13

Quelle belle rencontre, Paul! Ce héron bleu majestueux est magnifique au milieu des champs de tulipes. Très belle qualité d'image.
Amicalement
JJ

Jeppe (18654) 2007-04-16 2:56

Hi Paul
A fine and different place to shot a Heron - wonder if there will be frogs or even fishes around here :-)

I found the contrast shot to this :-)

Jeppe

jwmunro (286) 2007-04-16 11:57

Hello Paul -

What a lucky moment. You did a very good job in capturing the moment with the increased ISO. Since it is a handheld image it is well composed and executed. Well done!

Thank you for sharing

John

Ann75 (0) 2007-04-16 15:11

Hello Paul,

Wow, that's a great photo! What's that blue herron doing in the tulip field, I wonder??? I thought that they usually like it at the waters edge. But this photo sure proves that they can be anywhere. The POV is great, excellent DOF as well and stunning colours. The details are also fantastic. Excellent work and very unique, Paul!!

Greetings,
Ann

danielswalsh (13597) 2007-04-16 20:53

Great shot Paul,

You were quite lucky to capture such an eluding bird. I've spotted a couple native BC birds- but soon as I get anywhere close- they're off in flash! The zoom no doubt helped yet even with 70-200mm- you must have been quite close? Excellent exposure, sharpness and DOF- looks really good Paul!
I might suggest a slightly different crop (along the lines of the rule of thirds)?

I feel like the tortoise (vs. the hare)... I can see the 10,000 mark ahead of me- but it feels like forever!

- Dan

gneufeld (15890) 2007-04-17 23:04

Hi Paul,
This has to be one of those once in a lifetime sort of shots? I have tried to sneak up on herons more than once and they are very suspicious and extremely quick to take flight. Very nice work indeed. Gerald

kri54 (1515) 2007-04-19 1:08

très belle prise, originale, majestueuse, beau jeu sur la profondeur de champs

pierrefonds (113552) 2007-04-19 7:51

Hi Paul,

A nice photo of this heron in the tulips field, a lot of details of the bird can be seen. The photo has a good composition and nice colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jazu (415) 2007-04-21 20:58

Hi Paul
Great shot. I like focusing here.
It would be great, if your all shots would have link to "More Photo Info", but this info dissapearing when you use safe for web feature.
For this picture you gave great description.
TFS
Janusz

banyanman (7797) 2007-05-07 7:34

I mıssed thıs one before, Paul. It dıdn't look much ın the thumbnaıl but was a nıce surprıse when I opened ıt (I was ıntrıgued by the tıtle). Good focus on the heron and unusual to see one lıke thıs ın a fıeld of tulıps. Cheers . . . Davıs