Least Bittern w minnow

The light really helped bring out all the color & detail in the bittern. I always hope for a day or two of overcast light when I travel so I can photograph all day. I like the added touch of the minnow that is about to meet it's fate.

David,

Great shot!!
I am not being critical but inquisitive. I see that the beak and the tail are not as sharp as might be desired but what I consider super.That being said I do not get any where near this depth of field on my Siigma 150-500.I realize that I do not have the lens that you have and have done some homework on the long lenses but it has not sunk in.
Any suggestions or words of wisdom?

Dan

A real nice photo given the overcast skies. A bit surprised there is motion blur on the back feet with the SS at 1/2000 but that doesn't detract much. Inclusion of the reflection and the minnow being clearly indentifiable, combined with an elusive species gives you a really strong image.

- Luke

Dan Moore asked a question about DOF on this shot and Luke mentioned the lack of focus on the feet.
I had only seen one Least Bittern before this trip to Viera, but I was fortunate enough to find three places where I could view them and spent a lot of time waiting for them to make an appearance and took many shots. A definite goal was to get a shot of the bird striking and, hopefully, with a catch. All my early shots with low ISO were seriously out of focus if the bird were in mid-strike mode. Initially, I though it was DOF because I was pretty close to the birds. Then I began wondering if it were the case that the speed of the strike required much higher shutter speeds than what I was using. This photo is one where I tried to maximize shutter speed by going to ISO 1000 and f/4. Additionally, I pre-focused on the spot where I thought the bird would strike (behind the actual strike). My guess is that the softness of the head/beak and feet is more of a DOF issue than shutter speed. I have some pretty crisp shots of the same bird taken about 10 minutes later at f/8 and a shutter speed of 1/1000, but these do not include a minnow.
Thanks for looking, and thanks for the questions and comments.

Moment caught well.Nice composition.
István

Great capture the Bittern with the minnow, David.
I agree with you that the issue has been the DOF.

Dave, Since you were "pretty close" to this bird I'm actually a little surprised you were able to get the DOF you did at f/4. I like the action and love the setting. I'm betting the diffuse light helped you with the whites - they look good. Nice to get the fish too. I think you did very well in that light.

Well captures strike - and sharp where it matters.

Great job getting a bittern out in the open like this, David. Superb job on the exposure and sharp where it needs to be. Very well composed.

Very fine capture, lovely colors and great detail on much of the bird, David. It was also very interesting (and educational) to read your rationale for using ISO 1000 and how you approached the shot. On the one hand, I can see that the natural light did help both colors and detail here. However, I wonder if use of a flash to allow you to use a higher f value for more DOF would be a good idea in this situation.

David, this is a well-thought out and well-executed shot. focusing on the anticipated strike point (even if you were slightly off) worked out well. you've got the important parts of the bird sharp, which is not easy when anticipating action at f/4. The ISO doesn't look like it hurt at all either. The minnow in the bill is cool. This is a good one.

Excellent shot David and an interesting post talking about how you got the shot. Very well done.

Maybe slightly soft on the tip of the beak, but I think you did a great job really and made some good exposure decisions. As with a bit of wing blur sometimes, perhaps a bit of motion on a stabbing bill can be acceptable or even desirable to indicate some fast motion. I would be concerned with the background getting a bit busy if you had much more dof. Cool photo, that I would be very, very happy with.

Very cool shot David, nice job anticipating the action.

Great shot David perfect timing andsetting

cheers
Rob

David,

While it would be wonderful if the bill were as sharp as the rest of the bittern, I actually like the little bit of motion blur presented in this image, it does add a sense of movement & action for me.

Very nice angle, colors and details in the bird's feathers.

Very nice! Great action pose; nice image quality.