![\"black-crowned](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/black-crowned-night-heron-8546-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOur smoky skies can be a real problem for bird photographers. For now I’ve pretty much given up on flight shots where the background is sky because the smoke from forest fires\u00a0makes that background uniformly gray and unappealing. Even when the bird is perched and the background is something else the smoke can do funky things to the light but sometimes, even though it looks a little different, I like the effect.<\/p>\n
These night heron images, taken three days ago at Bear River MBR,\u00a0are a case in point. Both images were taken while the sun was quite low in the sky (7:53-7:55 AM) and the light had a noticeably warm, red component through the smoke.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n It seems to have been a productive breeding season for the species at Bear River because juveniles seem to be more abundant than usual for this time of year. This one had been fishing near the shoreline with its feet buried in mud so when it took off it left a trail of water and mud in the air behind it. I cropped the image as I did in order to feature that muddy trail.\u00a0 The effect of the smoke on the light may or may not appeal to most viewers but I find it interesting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n This image, taken two minutes before the previous one, is of another bird. The effect of the smoke on the light is even more apparent but I didn’t play with color balance or saturation in either photo – it is what it is and I have no problem with it. In fact I kind of like it.<\/p>\n The backgrounds of both images might be a little busy for some but the habitat is typical for the species and that appeals to me. This last image is full frame except for a vertical\u00a0slice taken off of the right side for composition.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our smoky skies can be a real problem for bird photographers. For now I’ve pretty much given up on flight shots where the background is sky because the smoke makes that background uniformly gray and unappealing.<\/p>\n![\"black-crowned](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/black-crowned-night-heron-8476-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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