the light adds to the charm of this image- you've caught a great deal of action!

Thanks Gregrory & Verena! I did not like shooting this at all since lighting was not from my back but it turns out nice (to me). I actually got a series of 6-8 shots like this. I probably will post some more later.

A beautiful series of this little egret in flight with its prey, despite the backlight, the detail on the white plumage is very good, the backlit droplets add charm, great timing, ciao Giangiorgio

Grazie mille Giagiorgio! Instinctively, I don't like the back/side lighting but it's obviously that's a wrong 'feeling' because that's what make the image more distinctive. Only with side or back lighting will show the water droplets as such and bring out the plumage details in more of a 3D fashion. It's hard to shoot in this type of lighting since the human eyes can not see as well and I was shooting blind (no seeing clearly) knowing that there is some action that I can not see clearly. It turns out well (to me). The zoom of this lens helps me tremendously since the birds are constantly moving close and far at all times.

Hi TmJ,

 

another great action photo of this egret! I think the light has helped you here; without it you wouldn't have shot such an interesting photo. I agree with Giangiorgio on this one. Kind regards, Vincent

Thanks Vicent! Yes, the side light sure bring out the droplets and the plumage details more 3 dimensional. I once met a wildlife artist (who has his work displayed at the Smithsonial, I was told) . We were both shooting with the Canon 500mm F4 next to each other at the 'wong' side of the light. So, I sort of told him that we probaly should be like the other 10 photographers on the other side. He told me that backlighting is better and to him it's what make an image. Well, I am not an artist and I know that backlighting and sidelighting sometimes bring out spectacular images but it's not easy to catch those type of image. This one works out well for me but this morning I was on the other side shooting with the light behind my back ... again :-)