![\"great](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/great-blue-heron-2254-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI have a confession to make and it involves a long-held prejudice I’ve had in the past\u00a0against images of Great Blue Herons.<\/p>\n
For over seven years now I’ve belonged to a\u00a0well-known online nature photography critique site and I was extremely active\u00a0in their bird photography forum\u00a0for most of that time.\u00a0 A high percentage of images presented there for critique were photos of Great Blue\u00a0Herons.\u00a0 I think there’s several reasons for that –\u00a0they’re very common and widespread, they\u00a0tend to be approachable, they’re large and conspicuous and because of their size and slow flight they’re relatively easy to photograph in flight.<\/p>\n
After that many years of\u00a0analyzing and critiquing so many Great Blue Heron images I slowly and subtly became somewhat\u00a0jaded toward images of\u00a0the species.\u00a0 It reached the point\u00a0where I didn’t have a lot of enthusiasm for photographing them and I seldom posted them to my blog.\u00a0 Shame on me!<\/p>\n
This post is one small step\u00a0toward rectifying\u00a0the situation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 @ 150mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Earlier this month we spotted this heron just after dawn as it\u00a0foraged in the canal along the road leading to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.\u00a0\u00a0 As you can see from my specs (150mm) I was very close to the bird – much too close for my 500mm lens so I quickly grabbed my other 7D and was able to get\u00a0in a few shots as it took off.\u00a0 I like the flight posture, the warm light and the natural setting even though my squarish composition may not be ideal (no more room\u00a0on the right).<\/p>\n When I think about it I have to admit that\u00a0I have minor prejudices against photographing a few other native\u00a0birds too – Canada Geese and\u00a0several gull species come to mind.\u00a0 I’m slowly coming around to giving them their photographic due, thanks\u00a0in part to my friend Mia who has been a good influence on me –\u00a0especially with gulls.<\/p>\n I’m a work in progress…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have a confession to make and it involves a long-held prejudice I’ve had in the past against images of Great Blue Herons.<\/p>\n