Patience!

I recently spent a weekend in Hay-on-Wye trying to resist the temptation to spend hundreds of pounds on books ... this really is very difficult when surrounded by such wonderful shops full of literary treasures!

When not perusing bookshelves, I took some time to explore along the River Wye. Finding a quiet spot I spotted a heron fishing and proceeded to spend the next couple of hours observing and photographing the bird. Just over 700 photographs later I left the river behind and returned to my hotel to begin processing the pictures.

I do enjoy reviewing images and it takes me much less time these days to sort my pictures. Perhaps I am more self-critical than I used to be but whatever the reason, I appreciate having a bit of extra time to take more photos. The picture below is my favourite from the shoot. The heron was moving between fishing spots and I was fortunate that on this occasion it moved towards me, and I had the camera ready!

  
I was using a polarising filter to bring out some of the contrast in the heron's plumage and the water so I increased the exposure by plus 5 points. I wanted to freeze the motion by using as high a shutter speed as possible, but I did not want the image to be too dark so I took several test shots to find the right balance between shutter speed and exposure compensation. 

The full details behind the shot are: Canon 7D with a +5 exposure bias, ISO 3200, 1/1500 second shutter speed, f/5.6 aperture and a Tamron AF 150-600 lens.

I was very pleased with the final picture. I'm never going to complain about spending hours nature watching but patience really is key to capturing any pictures of nature. As animals are patient in their endeavours, so a photographer must be patient in theirs.