Silhouettes and reflections

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Silhouettes and reflections

August 30, 2013 by Mike Powell

Without fill-in light, a backlit subject is often in the shadows and becomes a silhouette, which is what happened in these shots of a Great Blue Heron taking off from a watery area of my local marshland park. The same sunlight in front of me also created beautiful reflections of the heron in the water, and I really like the combination of the silhouettes and reflections in these images.

This heron was getting ready to give chase to another blue heron and was squawking loudly as it took off. I watched the two herons for quite a while and this one went out of his ways several times to harass the other one and force it to search for prey in the vegetation away from the pool of water. As you can see in the second and third photos, a Great Egret was a spectator to the action, lifting up its head to observe what was going on. When things calmed down, the egret returned to its fishing until the next round of activity from the herons.

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, blue heron, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park, relfections, silhouettes, Tamron 180mm macro lens | 10 Comments

10 Responses

on August 30, 2013 at 10:33 am | Reply Another Perspective Photography

The thing I love about backlight is the highlights makings sort of a halo effect… and I love the light in the water too. Lovely shots.
- on August 30, 2013 at 6:46 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. When I first looked at the image, I was worried that I had not given it a proper exposure, which was true in a way. However, I like the effect that I got by underexposing the subject and creating the silhouette-type effect. I love it when hair is backlit and glows, though obviously that was not the case with this bird.
on August 30, 2013 at 1:05 pm | Reply Katherine Wikoff

Beautiful images!
on August 30, 2013 at 2:56 pm | Reply Sue

Nice images, Mike. I like the way you took advantage of the light.
- on August 30, 2013 at 6:40 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Sue. There is one guy with whom I shoot occasionally who essentially refuses to shoot when facing the sun. I admit that it is a bit tricky to get good shots in which the subject is not totally in the shadows, but sometimes the results can be pretty spectacular.
on August 30, 2013 at 3:48 pm | Reply Round River Reflections

Mike, these are great! I bet it was just great to sit and watch the drama unfold.
- on August 30, 2013 at 7:47 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  It is always fascinating to watch the interaction among animals and among birds. I am inspired daily by the shots of Phil Lanoue (http://phillanoue.com/) who posts incredible shots of such interactions.
on August 31, 2013 at 8:19 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

I like that second shot. I wonder what it’s like to have this big bird coming at you like that. I’m kind of hoping I never find out.
- on August 31, 2013 at 8:29 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I have been pretty close when a blue heron has taken off and the wingspan is mighty impressive. Only rarely have I had one come flying directly over me, and on those occasions the heron was already pretty high in the air.
on September 2, 2013 at 12:03 am | Reply nliakos

These are stunning shots. I love Great Blue Herons!