Midnight Heron

I took this close to midnight on Saturday. I was by the River Dee in Chester where I live. At a part of the River there is a large weir where herons and cormorants tend to fish. I noticed the faint silhouette of this particular heron, and changed to my 55-300mm I'm glad I took with me. It was very dark and challenging to focus - could hardly see it. After a few long exposures I realised that 4 seconds was about as good as I was going to get from this particular bird before it moved slightly. So I upped the ISO to 800 to compensate. There were a few lamposts behind me which provided some light for the scene.

That is a beautiful shot and your patience has been rewarded, very well done there.

That's a cracking shot

Lovely shot.

Astounding.

Beautiful bud

That is very clever, very fortunate you picked a breed who like sitting still.

Indeed!

Thanks for the comments guys. Ideally it would have been even better if it was just ever so slightly sharper, but under these conditions, I can't really argue.

Cracking shot, and your patience paid off, well done.

Cracking and unusual shot in terms of lighting

I find generally that the plumage of heron's does not respond to harsh sunlight very well in terms of photo's, the detail given the amount and type of light available is impressive

I guess the cormorants were all in bed I was (but not with cormorants before anyone suggests this:lol

Remarkable, stillness of the Heron contrasting with the gushing water, should be popular with Zen Buddhists...

That is a potentially award winning shot. Fantastic.

Regards
David

Unusual and interesting image, very well captured.

It's one of those shots that literally make you say "Wow!"

Good work!!

That's quite the compliment - thanks Dave! (and everyone else!)