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Wetland royaltyGreat Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), Ponaganset Reservoir, Chepachet, Rhode Island, June 25, 2008, 19:00:08, photographed by Rob Lavoie
Published: November 1, 2008  Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), by Rob Lavoie
Rob says he can walk close to the long-legged birds down in Florida, where he and his wife Amy like to vacation, but back home in the Northeast, the herons tend to stay farther away, and he often finds them in places where he can't walk, such as wetlands.
Learning how to handle a kayak takes time, no doubt about it, as does learning how to handle a telephoto lens while handling a kayak. "There's definitely a risk," Rob admits. "If you swamp it, you're out of luck." But if you're patient enough to maneuver to where the angle and light are just right, the result can be spectacular, as this shot shows. |
Equipment used
Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark IIn, handheld
Lens: Canon 300mm f/2.8 with a 2x teleconverter, LensCoat neoprene lens cover
Settings: ISO 400, 1/1000 sec., f/7.1, aperture priority
Light: Late afternoon, no flash
Format: RAW, converted to JPEG
Adjustments: Cropped to 59% of original. Unsharp mask applied at 75%, radius 0.3 and threshold 0, using Photoshop Elements 6 on Sony VAIO VGC-LT39U PC/TV
Kayak: AdvancedFrame AE1012-R, inflatable (length 10'5", width 32", weight 36 lbs.) |
Meet the photographer
WATER BUG: Photographer Rob Lavoie, shown here in a shot taken by his wife Amy, has been an active member of the bird photography forum since April 2006. His picture of a Ring-billed Gull flying with a candy cane was chosen as the best Photo of the Week for November and December 2007. (We published it in "Your View" in April 2008.) When he's not kayaking, Rob works as a masonry contractor in Chepachet, Rhode Island. |
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