It’s around the end of the second year I’ve been photographing birds and I think I’ve done well to vary my approach, and learn about these creatures, and of course make plenty of images. Where I had luck I tried to go back, and I think I really got the sense of what is going on with different habitats, food sources and nesting sites. Spending a few hours in a place again and again, you get a feel for the patterns.

Through memorable encounters and then subsequent reading, I’ve slowly expanded my knowledge of why and where different birds and animals choose to live and feed and hunt for prey. But going and looking for owls or hawks doesn’t seem as simple compared to seeing my steady friends down at the neighborhood lakes.

I’ve been doing some extensive shooting at small out of the way ponds and lakes if I can find them and I’ve been staying put in one place a bit longer. Sometimes all that matters is finding those great shafts of light, and willing a subject into them. I’ve spent less time worrying about where a bird was than where a bird might be or is going, or which corner of the lake will give me the best light. Surely it seems like slightly more observable behavior can be seen out on the water and the banks, where subsurface life meets the air; in a herons mouth.

Thanks for viewing! Here are some selects from my heron encounters this summer to fall in Morristown NJ.

Black Crowned Night Heron. Beautiful specimen

The larger birds really stress auto focus placement. Soft eyes really take away from an image. In flight, in the moment I need to summon the right settings and some times get a little lucky. But as much as bad AF placement I’ve had a few images lose some sharpness when I’m not stopping all the action. I have tried to push shutter speed a but I guess I’ve stuck below 2500th, and I’m not thinking I’m stopping everything.

Really soon I’d like to go to shooting from a tripod with a gimbal head, but just sitting out there hand holding or with a monopod yields results. For sure the ability to move up and down the bank freely is worth it sometimes.

Next I think I will post my recent Egret stuffs. Thanks for viewing!