Accidental Shots

I had the idea for this shot for a few weeks now. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out so I'll probably go back down and try again. I would love to do this with a remote shutter release.

I set the tripod near some rocks that I had be clambering  around on earlier. It's a difficult thing climbing on wet slippery rocks with a camera but fun and well worth the risks. My boyfriend and I got to the location early enough to watch the sunset which was too obscured by clouds so I took a bunch of other photos instead while exploring the area.

The tide was low so a lot of shells and scalloped covered rocks were visible. Finally, it was dark enough to try the shots I planned to take so I decided to set up the tripod. Right before I put the camera on I saw this huge blue heron swoop in and land in this little section where the water from the bay goes into this river type area. I rushed off, ducking under the young banyan trees and found the heron wading in the water.

She was hunting so I approached very carefully. While she didn't catch anything she did let me get really close. Since the clouds were thick and the sun nearly gone I had to use the on camera flash to catch the heron. This made it look like I took the shots in the dead of night.

It was a lot of fun stalking up to the heron, squatting down, waiting for a moment and then getting closer and closer. I had just read a bunch of information on Robert Capa, a famous photographer many credit with being the father of photojournalism. He made his name taking riveting war photos getting closer to the action then anyone had done before. He died after stepping on a land mine. I couldn't help but to think of Capa as I edged closer to the bird. Sure, the heron wasn't an enemy combatant and that little section of Sarasota was free of bombs and gunfire but there was that exhilaration, that thrill of trying my luck. There were a few times when I thought she was going to fly up but she didn't.
 

When I lived in Winter Haven I once trudge in some pretty thick mud in an attempt to take a picture of a heron. Back then I only had a point and shoot and in the end failed to get my shot.

Overall, this entire evening was a big success. I got a handful of pictures I like and I got to shoot the heron.