Egrets in flight—light and shadows

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Egrets in flight—light and shadows

August 3, 2015 by Mike Powell

How do you capture the details of a pure white bird as it flies in an out of the light? That was my challenge this past weekend when I tried to photograph Great Egrets (Ardea alba) at my local marshland park.

Many of my past shots of egrets have been unsuccessful, usually because they are overexposed and the highlights and details are blown out. I’ve tried using exposure compensation with only minimum success.

This time, I remembered to switch to spot metering and had greater success. Sure, the backgrounds are a bit underexposed, but I think that the darkness helps the highlight the beauty of the egret.

Great Egrets seem a little awkward when in the water, but when they take to the air, it’s like watching a ballet.

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea alba, birds in flight, Canon 50D, egret, Great Egret, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 24 Comments

24 Responses

on August 3, 2015 at 9:36 am | Reply circadianreflections

Beautiful series!
- on August 3, 2015 at 10:56 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks so much. These birds are amazing in their beauty.
on August 3, 2015 at 10:03 am | Reply Laura (PA Pict)

Wonderful images. Had you not mentioned it, I would have assumed the darkened background was an active choice rather than a compromise as it certainly does provide a contrast to and adds emphasis to the egret.
- on August 3, 2015 at 10:56 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Camera metering is a little tricky when you have such a bright subject. The normal mode I use, matrix metering, sort of assumes that the light is even and more or less gives a reading that is average. Unfortunately the “average” reading is usually off in cases like this and the egret ends up too white or really gray. With spot metering, the camera makes the setting based on one little spot and ignores the rest. The challenge on a moving egret, though, is to keep the focusing spot on the bird. It helps that they are big birds.
on August 3, 2015 at 10:30 am | Reply Christy

These are all gorgeous! One of these days I hope to run into you at the marsh. :-).
- on August 3, 2015 at 10:51 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Christy. It’s tough to find me, because I am there at odd hours and in remote locations (though you know where some of those are located).
on August 3, 2015 at 11:20 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

Wonderful shots.
- on August 3, 2015 at 1:42 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Victor.
on August 3, 2015 at 12:46 pm | Reply Mjollnir MacAlba

You nailed it Mike. Superb.
- on August 3, 2015 at 1:43 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. There is something really elegant about pure white. The Swans have Swan Lake, can’t the Egrets have at least Egret Pond as a ballet?
  - on August 3, 2015 at 1:50 pm Mjollnir MacAlba
    
    😀
on August 3, 2015 at 2:46 pm | Reply Lyle Krahn

Beautiful shot into the light and the feather detail is all there. It’s interesting how different camera settings can get you to the same place. I like using exposure compensation.
- on August 3, 2015 at 4:45 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Lyle. I actually use exposure compensation most of the time and this actually was spot metering combined with exposure compensation. Normally I use evaluative (matrix) metering as a default setting.
on August 3, 2015 at 5:11 pm | Reply compostingwords

Nice! These are gorgeous!
- on August 4, 2015 at 4:45 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks so much.
on August 3, 2015 at 6:54 pm | Reply naturesnippets

Such relaxing pictures.
- on August 4, 2015 at 4:46 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. These birds are so elegant and beautiful in flight that I too find them to be relaxing when I look at them.
on August 4, 2015 at 8:48 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Excellent!
on August 4, 2015 at 1:38 pm | Reply Charlie@Seattle Trekker

Stunning action shots; Egrets are such beautiful birds.
- on August 5, 2015 at 4:34 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Charlie.
on August 4, 2015 at 11:41 pm | Reply Birder's Journey

Marvelous wing detail and definition!
- on August 5, 2015 at 4:33 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks.
on August 9, 2015 at 1:04 am | Reply sachinsawhney

Great Shot, enjoyed the series.
- on August 9, 2015 at 4:43 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks.