Portrait of a Great Blue Heron

This is one image that I almosed tossed out in my digital trash.  When I was photographing the Great Blue Heron, (Ardea herodias), the other day, he was about 150 yards away, across the river.  While trying to get some shots hand-held I threw my aiming point off a bit.  You might say that my gun went off in the air. 🙂

Anyway, I chopped the heron off above the knees.  Fortunately, I, like other dedicated photographers, always take many, many exposures of any given subject.  So I had more shots like the one I posted yesterday.  This morning while taking a closer look, I decided I could make a portrait of this handsome guy.  And, besides, I need something to write about in today’s post.  So, here is the result of that little mis-adventure.

Portrait of a Great Blue Heron

Also, during that little trip by the river, we saw several Western Bluebirds, (Sialia mexicana).  Since, most of the bluebirds that we see here are the eastern variety, I waited about posting any images until I could make sure of the ID.  I didn’t get any photos that were ready for the art galleries, but this one is acceptable.  Unfortunately, because he is face directly at the camera, you don’t see much of his beautiful blue.  The photo is, of course, an adult male.

Western Bluebird - adult male

I hope you are enjoying all of my posts about the birds and birding of west Texas.  So keep reading and coming back as there will be much more in the future.

Great Blue Heron:  Canon EOS 7D with Canon 500mm f4 lens and 1.4 tele-converter.  Exposure:  1/2000 sec. @ f6.3, -1.3EV,  ISO 100.  I reduced the exposure because of a lot of glare off of the background.

Western Bluebird:  Canon EOS 7D with Canon 500mm f4 lens and 1.4 tele-converter.  Esposure:  1/1250 sec. @ f8, -0.7EV, ISO 100.  I messed up on this one, in that I inadvertantly reduced the esposure by 2/3, when I intended to increase it by the same amount.  I corrected it Photoshop.  Whew!!!