Photography 101: It's the Light, Stupid

[NorthernFocus]

I watched this bird for half an hour or so under cloudy skies. I snapped a few frames as it assumed interesting poses and/or passed across clean backgrounds but nothing all that interesting. Patience finally paid off as the evening sun popped out briefly AND the breeze dropped off AND the bird walked across a clean, shaded BG. The trifecta

There's just no substitute for good lighting.

Nikon D500, 200-500mm @500mm, handheld
1/1600s, f5.6, ISO200

[Tronhard]

That is a wonderful image, and yes the light is fantastic. It's what makes us want to be photographers I guess, to see that alignment of the elements that make a great image and have the skills to capture it - as you have done brilliantly.

[Rita]

Patience did pay off with a great reward. This image is stunning.

[Mike Buckley]

There's just no substitute for good lighting.

Notice the quote in my automated signature at the bottom of my posts.

Even so, great lighting on its own doesn't make a great photo. As an example, consider the incredible details in the bright tones of your image. That's just plain masterful post-processing.

[bje07]

soft box well positioned, nice picture .

[Stagecoach]

That was worth waiting for.

[Craigie]

An other great image, Dan.

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you guys enjoyed the image. Thanks for the comments.

I'm processing everything these days on an uncalibrated laptop screen. That's not such a big deal for getting the lighting right but there is a lot of guesswork involved in the WB/colors. I'll have to go back over all of these images and tweak them when I get home.

[madcrow]

I agree with all the about comments. Exceptional image, worth the wait.

[Wavelength]

Light is the Master of this image....just superb

[bnnrcn]

Great image as always Dan

[Mike Buckley]

Glad you guys enjoyed the image. Thanks for the comments.

I'm processing everything these days on an uncalibrated laptop screen...there is a lot of guesswork involved in the WB/colors.

I'm reviewing them on a calibrated monitor and my thinking is that any changes you make will be purely those of preference, as opposed to making changes that are in the realm of correcting an error.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks, folks. Glad you liked it.

[KimC]

Gorgeous Dan!

[pnodrog]

Photography 101: Persevere...

Worth the wait.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks, guys.

Paul, it's a good thing I had some time to practice in that beautiful NZ sunshine before coming here. It's a rare commodity in Alaska. But after shooting birds on those sunny beaches I arrived here well prepared.

[JBW]

You are so much more than a technician.

[ucci]

Hi Dan
All the appropriate things have already been said above by others who have pinched all the very best lines, damn them!! So, nothing left for me to add except a whole lot of dittos for this excellent capture. Yes you certainly struck the trifecta with this one. But after such a long wait, and in all that cold, why didn't you go for the quad? They are edible, right?

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks, Brian and Ken.

...why didn't you go for the quad? They are edible, right?

They are indeed. But not much meat on their bones and that tastes rather like fish. Like most creatures the taste of their flesh is strongly influenced by what they eat which is almost exclusively fish for these guys. Not to mention the authorities would frown on my knocking it on the head so it would likely be the most expensive ill tasting meal one could imagine. Speaking of which, this guy is a great egret. Its cousin, the snowy egret, has even more ornate plumage which was used in ladies hats back in the day. They were hunted nearly to extinction in the 19th century.

Which reminds me of a story. I assume you folks heard plenty about the big BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a few years back. Well during the cleanup BP was hiring pretty much anybody who could make there way to the docks in southern Louisiana. There were a couple of cajun boys who lived on a bayou nearby who decided to cash in and take temporary jobs on the cleanup effort. They signed on and were sent down to a foreman for a work assignment. The foreman was glad to see them as hundreds of oil soaked pelicans had been captured and brought in to be rehabilitated. So when these two guys showed up he asked them if they thought they could help clean birds. Well sure they could. So he sent them over to the area where the pelicans were being held and told them he'd be by shortly to get them lined out on the task. Half an hour later he stopped by and to his horror found two dozen pelicans plucked and gutted and the cajun boys busy working on more.

[John 2]

Nice, very nice - and worth the wait.