{"id":142235,"date":"2023-09-03T06:32:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-03T12:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=142235"},"modified":"2023-09-03T09:54:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T15:54:53","slug":"great-blue-heron-old-stoneface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/03\/great-blue-heron-old-stoneface\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron – Old Stoneface"},"content":{"rendered":"

Too much “cooperative” can be the same as uncooperative.<\/p>\n

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Four days ago at Bear River MBR I found this Great Blue Heron backed up against the phrags on the far side of one of the canals. This first time I stopped for ‘him’ he was side lit and I was too close to get photos that included his reflection so I decided to try to drive past him so I could get better light on the bird and be far enough away to include his reflection in my photos. He hadn’t moved a feather for the more than five minutes I was so close to him so I had hopes he wouldn’t flush as I drove past him even closer.<\/p>\n

Because of the high contrast side light, I’m not particularly fond of this photo. I’m only including it to help me tell the story.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

He didn’t budge as I drove past him and I sure like the light on the bird better from this angle. But I ended up not liking his reflection from my new position, so I cropped to exclude it.<\/p>\n

Usually, when it’s appropriate, I prefer vertical crops for the better detail it provides on the bird. But for this heron…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I slightly prefer a horizontal composition because it includes more of the setting, which I like. To me this setting looks swampy, almost primordial, which seem appropriate for a primitive-looking bird like a Great Blue Heron.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I ended up spending almost 15 minutes with this bird and I never saw him move, even twitch, in that time. He’d obviously turned his head slightly in order to follow me as I drove past him, but I didn’t see that because I was driving. In the end I got tired of waiting for him to do something interesting so I eventually gave up and drove on down the road.<\/p>\n

The next morning I went back to Bear River and found him in almost the same place but he was partially hidden by vegetation so I didn’t take any photos. I waited and waited for him to start fishing or take off or do something<\/em> interesting but he never moved.<\/p>\n

That’s when I started calling him “Old Stoneface”.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned in a previous post<\/a><\/span><\/span>, April Olson was also at the refuge that day. The following day she posted a photo of what was almost certainly the same heron on Facebook, saying this about him.<\/p>\n

“This Great Blue Heron was another bird willing to pose yesterday. Maybe a little too willing. He never moved the 20 minutes I watched the bird hoping he would do something more entertaining.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Old Stoneface” to the end.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Note: I’m not including my image techs because they were inappropriate for the situation.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Too much “cooperative” can be the same as uncooperative. (3 photos)<\/p>\n

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