When I can’t get near enough to a subject for a close-up shot, I love to try to create an environmental portrait, like this image of a Great Egret (Ardea alba) that I photographed last week in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Sometimes it is really cool to focus on capturing the mood of a moment more than worrying about the minute details of the subject.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
It’s beautiful, you really have captured the mood.
Thanks so much for your very kind comment.
Well done. I don’t think the world needs another Egret photograph. It always needs a scene / story to share their beauty. Just sayin 😃
Egrets, I’ve had a few, but then again too few to mention…
This is beautiful, so peaceful!
Thanks. There is something so soothing about that shade of blue and I can sense a mood of serenity in the image.
Absolutely divine. Thank
You for sharing it!
That’s beautiful. I saw a white “heron-like” bird hanging out with several Great Blue Herons at a local pond last weekend. I searched it and thought maybe it was a white heron, but they are not usually found in Canada. I think it may have been an Egret.
Thanks, Michelle, for sharing your experience. In my area, Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets are often present at the same locations. One major difference, though, is that the herons stay around all year, while the egrets fly south for the winter.
Very nice Mike! I agree, it is nice to show the environment the photo subject is in.
Thanks, Reed. As you know well, it is always a challenge to balance the desires to show the details of a subject and to show the environment. I often get so caught up in trying to get physically close to a subject or zooming in with the lens that I end up isolating my subject from its habitat more than I intended.