I was very fortunate today and was able to capture some images of a night heron landing. Photographing birds is always a bit of a hit or miss proposition. Sometimes Mother Nature cooperates, and sometimes not.
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.
I had just finished photographing a few turtles basking on an old log when I saw some motion out of the corner of my eye.
Not having any time to adjust my camera settings, I wheeled around to my left and was able to quickly acquire focus on a night heron landing on a berm at Hendrie Valley.
Luckily I had been watching for ospreys fishing and had my camera set for AF-C with subject tracking at 10 fps.
Shooting with Manual settings and Auto ISO 160-3200, I had slowed my shutter speed in order to photograph the turtles at a lower ISO.
Ideally I would have wanted to capture this night heron with somewhat faster shutter speeds, but overall I was quite pleased with the resulting images.
The night heron did stay perched for a while and I got a few additional images of it. I noticed a kayak coming down the channel and I anticipated that the heron would take flight. Unfortunately I lost my concentration for a split second just as the heron took flight and I missed my attempt at another AF-C run. Maybe next time…
Technical Note:
All images were captured hand-held in available light using a Nikon 1 V3 and 1 Nikon CX 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom lens. All photographs in this article were produced from RAW files using my standard process of DxO OpticsPro 11, CS6 and the Nik Collection.
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Article and images Copyright 2017 Thomas Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, duplication or adaptation of any kind is allowed without written consent. If you see this article reproduced anywhere else it is an unauthorized and illegal use. Posting comments on offending web sites and calling out individuals who steal intellectual property is always appreciated!
I like the first photo the best. Why are they called Night Herons? Thanks!
Hi Joni,
The first image is also my favourite. The bird looks so intense. I have no idea why they are called night herons. The full name is Black-crowned night heron.
Tom
Hi Tom,
Wonderful action shots I must say again. That CX 70-300 gets a lot of action, just judging from your recent posts here and in Photography Life. Thanks for sharing your settings — will try my hand again in birding when the opportunity comes up.
Oggie
Thanks for the positive comment Oggie – much appreciated! When my old, porous brain allows I try to remember to note my camera settings for readers.
Tom