When Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) take off from the water, they really stretch out and usually I cut off part of their bodies when trying to photograph them in action. Last week, though, my timing was good and I captured this little sequence of images as a heron took to the air, flew for a short distance, and “stuck” its landing in the water.
I was really happy with the way that I was able to capture so many details, from the arc of the water droplets as the heron rose out of the water to the bird’s different-colored feathers. In the final photo, the spread wings, wind-blown “hair,” and the wonderful reflection combine to create a really cool mood in the image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Those are amazing photos from head to tail! Thank you! The heron looks even more beautiful than in person, I think. His colors appear more dense.
Thanks, Ann. It was a rare treat to be able to photograph the heron from head to tail like that.
I love all 3 photos, Mike, and as a sequence (triptych?) They are extraordinary!
Thanks, Nina. I was thrilled to be able to track the heron as it was moving and keep it in frame, though I must confess that it’s a lot easier with a larger, slower bird than with most of the speedy little birds I often try to photograph.
wonderful!!
Lovely. I especially like the last image of the moment of touchdown.
Thanks. That last image, in fact, is my personal favorite of the batch too.
When I saw the last photo Mike, the words that instantly came to mind were, “screeching to a halt”. Wonderful photos!
Thanks, Liz. You description is quite apt for the final photo, because the heron was able to immediately stop its forward progress almost instantaneously.