Herons in Whitewater, Great Falls VA

Beautiful image.

Charles Glatzer

Senior Tech and Field Editor

www.Naturephotograophers.net

Brian,

 

This is an beautiful picture. The heron on the left is especially attractive with the light, but powerful water in the background providing a nice contrast. Nice job!

 

Paul K.

teacher, photo enthusiast

As these birds are my absolute favorites my congratulations on a great image. you certainly make a case for IS lenses, unfortunately I will have to wait for the independents as I own a pentax system

Adam (my second name)

Not knowing it was a photograph, I would have guessed it was Audobon. Outstanding.

wow, I did not think it would be possible to hand hold a shot like that. Shows what can be done, and gives encouragement/hope for spontaneous possibilities.

This really shows off the abilities of the IS lens (as well as your abilities to frame a great shot). I can't help thinking though, that the picture would be even _better_ without the heron on the right. The one on the left is pretty much perfect. That's not so say that I don't like the photograph as it is...

This is a wonderful shot and one of the most beautiful I have seen...could easily grace the pages of National Geographic!

At first glance, almost looked unreal

Congratulations.

 

Without being negative, I would like to suggest that holding detail in the water isnt that hard when youve got "heavy overcast weather", so thats a pretty lame reason for choosing the photo (the other reasons are no doubt excellent).

 

Other than that, I think wildlife photos shouldnt be chosen for POW because they are an interest for only a small minority of specialist photographers on Photonet, so are not suitable for furthering our general photographic expertise. Many people (like me, Ill admit) dont know anything about wildlife photography so cannot engage in discussion about the POW.

Has a Zen like quality . . . Also, the framing compliments the print.

great shot, really get a sense of motion, you can almost

hear the waves, and you have managed to catch the birds

poised, i love it

This photo shows a wonderful blend of patience, timing, seeing, technical skill. Congratulations on the creation of a very fine work of art.

Great Picture. Sometimes single element pictures are boring. Here you've combined white water, herons and dark rocks. I like that complexity with attractive elements.

 

I'm surprised by Samuel Dilworth's comments. I thought that a fairly high percentage of photo.net people were nature photographers. When you photograph people, you can run into trouble with privacy issues. It seems easier to photograph animals that won't sue you. What sort of pictures did Samuel have in mind? I like nature photography and might not like his style.

Reminds me of Japanese paintings, which often feature herons and water in motion. The photo is great and the composition works well. I say this because I find that my eye does not rest on one thing in the photo. I find that when the lines of a photo force your eye to rove that it really comes to life and that is an achievement of real art. Regardless Samuel of whether it is a nature photograph or not can't one appreciate it for it's beauty? (Samuel, who I know lives in Brazil, is a great contributor to these pages. I'm sure he is aware of his many fellow photo-netters appreciation for nature photography. I wish he would share HIS pictures with us so we can see what his tastes and proclivities are rather than what they are not).

Amazing picture.. it wasn't until I started reading other comments that I realized the distance it was taken at, and without any noticeable blur at all. Very impressive.

 

I waas curious to know where near the Great Falls this was taken, and when. I live very close by, and often try to get around there to shoot, but my photos (more based on my skill than the location..) never come out that great. If the photographer is reading this, I would very much appreciate it if you know of any good times or spots to shoot in, or anywhere else nearby.

 

Once again, great photo.

i really like the composition. the rocks and the water give the picture a lot of power and the birds give you something to relate to. very pretty image. the only thing is, i wish the picture was black and white. since the colors were so dull in the scene i find them to be more distracting then anything else.

 

my final words, though, are 'great picture'. i really like the image.

I knew this would make POW! You know my thoughts on this Brian...I drool....

It's a lovely picture with that beautyful birds and that angry sea, it's one of the most perfect picture I've seen.

This is so beautiful. It looks more like a painting than a photograph!

I did come across as a bit negative.

Anton, I can (and in fact, do) appreciate this photograph for its beauty. But I think there are enough people who say, "Hey, great pic!" without me chiming in, too. I don't think that helps either the photographer or those reading the comments in search of knowledge and inspiration. But when the POW is of wildlife, that is all I can do, so it basically means I can't discuss the photo.

On further thought, yeah, I suppose there are always going to be people who won't be able to benefit from the POW. It just happened to be me this time. I was being selfish when I suggested that wildlife photos shouldn't ever be chosen.

I wonder just how many Photonetters are wildlife photographers? It would be interesting (for me) if Photonet supported polls for that sort of thing.

BTW, I have lived in Brazil for a few years, but I was born in Finland, am British, and am now living in Northern Ireland. :-)

Every now and then I see a photo that I think simply could not be done better, and this is one. It's dynamite in every way -- technically superior, compositionally right on, appealing for its poster-like quality, and -- above all -- an unusual view of great birds we most often encounter as waders in quieter, shallow backwaters or as primitive-looking beasts making their way across the sky with slow, measured wingbeats. I'm awed and envious.

Lighting from overcast skies adds to the mood.

great photo. looks like a painting. great

1/125th at f8 on ISO 100 film adds up to EV13. This is NOT a "heavy overcast" light intensity (crystal clear sunlight MIGHT get to EV14). Own up... you used a tripod or a mount (ditto for most of the other alleged "hand held" portfolio shots"). Then there's the 560mm focal length lens: it's even less likely that you'd get a sharp image out of the claimed tech specs. Does not compute.

Tony - what about the IS capability of this lens. Factor that in and then the values might start looking better. Of course, you got to figure out how one would quantify the image stabilising factor....

Brian - a brief comment : this and all the photos in your folder are very good - seriously above average. You also have some good equipment at your disposal, and obviously that is helping. All said, these are great pictures. Good luck.