Silhouettes of a heron

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Silhouettes of a heron

October 24, 2018 by Mike Powell

I suspected that this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge would be silhouetted because I was shooting into the light. I was going to make some adjustments to my camera settings, but it took off before I could do so and I captured a cool series of images.

I liked the way that a few details of the feathers were visible in the images and the pink and blue streaks in the background were a nice touch. I decided, however, to play around with one of the images and opened the second shot in SIlver Efex Pro 2, a black and white conversion software program that is part of the Nik Collection.

One of the filters turned the heron into a completely black silhouette—with some birds, identification would be a problem, but the shape of the heron is unmistakable here. Another filter created the effect of a pinhole camera and you can see the result in the final images. There is something about that final image that really appeals to me.

I tend to strive for realism in my photos and normally do only a minimal amount of post-processing. I had so much fun, though, playing around with the different effects you can achieve with software that I suspect I will consider doing so again in the future.

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Nik Collection, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, silhouette, silhouettes, Silver Efex Pro 2, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 17 Comments

17 Responses

on October 24, 2018 at 8:01 am | Reply Dan Antion

I like these, Mike. Not over-the-top, but interesting for sure. It all starts with a great image.
- on October 24, 2018 at 8:32 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Dan. Yeah, these are not spectacular to be sure, but in many ways that’s the way life tends to be. I try to share with folks what I am seeing and thinking and doing and hope that they will find it to be of interest or at least cause them to pause and think.
  - on October 24, 2018 at 8:44 am Dan Antion
    
    It works for me, Mike.
on October 24, 2018 at 8:34 am | Reply yvrwalkswithnature

Silhouetted grace in flight.
If it is ok, may I know the camera you normally use? I am planning to upgrade mine.
Thank you😊
- on October 24, 2018 at 8:40 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I shot these with a Canon 50D DSLR and a Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens. The Canon 50D was made during 2008-2010, so it’s probably not the camera that you would upgrade to. There are lots of good choices of cameras available, depending on what you want to shoot. My personal advice is to shoot as often as you can with what you have–your equipment is only one small part of getting good photos. 🙂
  - on October 24, 2018 at 12:07 pm yvrwalkswithnature
    
    Thank you, Mike.
    Understood and Loved this – “your equipment is only one small part of getting good photos.” 😊
on October 24, 2018 at 9:35 am | Reply Ellen Jennings

All very nice, Mike!
on October 24, 2018 at 10:27 am | Reply Molly D.

Regardless i thin they ARE spectacular because the heron is always spectacular!! And you do a wonderful job portraying that 😉
on October 24, 2018 at 2:20 pm | Reply Robert Kirkendall

We have lift off!
on October 24, 2018 at 3:47 pm | Reply blhphotoblog

Nice work Mike, really like the effects.
on October 24, 2018 at 4:31 pm | Reply exploringcolour

I really like the silhouette and thought a few seconds about why. It soon came to me that apart from its gracefulness its also so perfectly balanced and I think that’s what especially appealed to me. Great image!
- on October 25, 2018 at 5:03 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Liz. I am always amazed at the heron’s gracefulness in the air, because it seems so gawky on the ground.
on October 24, 2018 at 6:25 pm | Reply Eliza Waters

Nice treatment – I like it!
- on October 25, 2018 at 5:05 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Eliza.
on October 25, 2018 at 9:15 pm | Reply svtakeiteasy

It is nice to try different effects and the results here make it worthwhile!
- on October 26, 2018 at 4:12 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Liz. I think I could spend huge amounts of times playing around with all of the different effects. For me, it seems to work best when the subject is really simple. When the background is cluttered or busy, a lot of the effects end up messy.
on October 28, 2018 at 12:21 pm | Reply Penny Ann Koch

WOW! I love these!

Sent from my iPad

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