marc_gorenstein

The heron was standing still. In fact he was very, very still while waiting for the occasional fish to appear. So I had time to try a few angles and exposure speeds. The biggest problem was to get the heron separated from the background. The best solution was to pick an angle where the water was the background for the head and beak. I also knew that I needed the water to appear smooth, so a show shutter speed was called for. But would the heron cooperate? Well, as I said, the heron was standing still, so the slow shutter speed work--it was probably around 0.25 sec. Too bad the feet fade into the rock, but I'm happy with the result.

The framing of the mist by the trees adds a powerful sense of mystery. Very nice.

I took most of the Geese 2000 pictures looking up the waterfall (e.g. see Geese Hanging.) This photo, Geese on a diagonal, is one of the few where I tried a different view, looking across and down. At first, I wasn't too happy with the results, but I felt the strong diagonal helped this one. The comments on this picture have given me some ideas for shooting at this angle. I'll be more aware of the effect the moving water has as well as the reflections in the water.

The converging lines from both the deck and the sides work well together. I think it would be a stronger composition if you cropped out the bottom half. Visually, it would put the deck and the fence on more equal footing. Sorry about the pun.