I normally avoid shooting images with white backgrounds. However, this time as I watched this Great Blue Heron in its nest I decided otherwise. I thought it had sort of an Audubon painterly quality about it. Waiting for the intermittent clouds to provide both the background and the bright, low-contrast lighting was essential if I was to record the image as I envisioned it. I switched to center-weighted metering in manual mode, filled the frame with only the nest and locked in the exposure (+ 1/3 exposure-compensation for overcast conditions). As the Heron turned it's head I pressed the shutter on my F4s. Sigma 400 5.6 APO, Velvia @ ISO 40, tripod as always.

Mastering exposure fundamentals will enable you to capture images not only as they are seen, but also, as you envision them. I had the image printed on canvas and it now hangs in my home.

CG-NPN