Earl Moore Photography
White Heron - Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Outer Banks, NC


This White Heron photo was made back in late April ’11 at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, on the Outer Banks, NC. The background compression gives away it being shot at a fairly long 300 mm focal length — visitor boardwalks limit closer access. I’d just taken a couple of photos of this same heron wading through the shallows and in half a heart beat it cleared the water and was under wing — you can still see the waves where it’s legs were lifted.

One thing I like about this image is it captured some white reflections from the in-flight heron in the water below it.

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Don
Don
13 years ago

I think it’s a marvelous capture of this bird in flight and the effect of lifting itself off the water.
Fine image.

Anita Jesse
13 years ago

Another outstanding shot. Wow. I had noticed the reflection the moment I saw the picture. That is a wonderful bonus here. The trees near the top at land’s edge seem to echo the bird’s wings and perfectly balance this for me.

Monte Stevens
13 years ago

I’m finding these white egrets all around this lake at our apartments. I counted 12 of them the other morning. Must be some good fishing. They are a majestic bird, graceful in flight. But, they sure do keep the distance. I also like the reflection especially against the blue water. Looks like a good lift off.

Mark
13 years ago

Nicely timed capture Earl. I agree with the others, the reflection is a nice touch.

Just a curiosity since I noticed this while scrolling the page – what do you think of the image with the top blue water cropped out?

Mark
13 years ago
Reply to  Earl

Well, I think there could be a number of things working for the 3:1 crop. Mine isn’t as severe, it is some odd ratio like 2.134:1. :-). But I have noticed even for mine, I am cropping to get as many of the key features of the image visible. I think this cropping can help eliminate portions of the image that are perhaps not as important, making the composition have more impact. The other thing is that I think panoramic formats can just have more appeal in general.

Aswirly
13 years ago

What can I say? This is simply beautiful!!