Sometimes you cannot get your subject to cooperate in posing and sometimes it simply does not matter, especially when you are focused primarily on capturing the mood of the moment, rather than the anatomical details of the wildlife creature.
On a recent early-morning trip to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted a distant Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) perched in a tree. The heron was facing away from me and appeared to be basking in the sun, trying to warm up a little after what had been a frigid night. The morning light was beautiful as it illuminated the interlocking grid of branches—in many ways that light became the main subject of this image.
There is a kind of abstract feel to this image that I really like, though it is quite different from most of the photos that I normally take. Somehow it recaptures for me the serenity of that early-morning encounter in a way that a detailed close-up shot would not have been able to do.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
simple capture of the moment, beautiful, agree, captured the moment, not the subject. I like!
Thanks. I was a little out of my comfort zone in posting this and I am happy to hear that you liked the image. 🙂
I like the photo. I’ve only ever seen herons standing in or near water. It’s interesting to see one in a tree.
I believe, Dan, that many of them like to sleep in the trees, where they may feel better protected from potential predators. Here’s a link to one of my old posts that shows a Great Blue Heron perched on the top of a limbless tree that reminded me of a flag pole. (https://michaelqpowell.com/2014/02/26/precarious-perch/)
It does look like a flag pole.
Very nice, Mike! I like the composition and all those crossing twigs. Soon we’ll be all leafed out and may not even notice such a fellow.
Beautiful capture of tranquility … nothing is distracting that heron’s concentration (perhaps heron is studying the “interlocking grid of branches”?)
I was thinking of your photos yesterday when I was attempting bird shots at the Cypress Wetlands.
Beautifully said and photographed, Mike!