Motions of A Great Blue Heron at Great Falls

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A flurry of colorful motion as a great blue heron takes flight, as seen with a slow shutter speed.

Most times I’ve photographed birds, and birds in flight, I’ve opted for fast shutter speeds to capture as much detail as possible. But sometimes it’s fun to slow everything down and allow motion blur into the finished photograph. The two photos in this post are examples of this. They were created at Great Falls on the Potomac River as viewed from the Maryland side. Both were at 440mm and a fairly small aperture of f/16, giving me a shutter speed of 1/30 of a second. This allowed a very nice amount of blur when the great blue heron took flight.

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With a slow shutter speed, a flying great blue heron can take on a ghostly appearance.

In one case I held the camera fairly still, keeping the rocks mostly in sharp focus. But in the other the tripod head was more loose and the camera moved, making the rocks look softer and out of focus, though not as much as the heron. I love the beautiful gradations of blue and gray, and the bright whites and dark blues resulting from the different colored feathers of the heron. It’s also interesting seeing the bits of blurred yellow and orange from its feet.

I think there’s a lot of potential in this style of photography to create some interesting and pleasing images. And it could easily be applied to many different genres, not just wildlife photography, but to anything that moves. Have you ever intentionally used slower shutter speeds to capture motion blur? How did it turn out? And if not then give it a go one of these days.

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To The Falls

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To the Falls

This photo of a paddler maneuvering his kayak upriver brings back great memories of a fantastic morning spent photographing the scenery and several paddlers at Great Falls on the Potomac River. I began the day photographing from some of the observation areas up top on the Virginia side. At first I focused on the river, itself, but then I began focusing on the paddlers on the water.

Later I decided to hike down the trail that leads to a lower area of rocks closer to water level. This is the trail some rafting groups take to bring their inflatable rafts to the rivers edge. From there they’ll take guests on a beautiful trip downriver. You have to be very careful in this area as it’s steep and rocky, and if it’s been raining it can make the rocks extremely slippery. And I have no interest going down there if the water level is too high. But you can see from the markings on the cliffs the water level that day was low compared to what it often is.

I found a spot on the rocks at a safe distance from the water, sat down, and started photographing. As when I was higher up at the observation areas, I focused both on the river and waterfalls, and on the paddlers in their kayaks. It’s always fun watching these folks maneuvering through the water, sometimes trying different moves, or positioning themselves for a specific feature on the river.

Then one of the paddlers maneuvered his kayak to the rocks just below me and came ashore, climbing up the rocks to sit near me. We had a nice conversation, talking about being on the river, different places where folks like to kayak, and photographing kayakers. We exchanged email addresses and I promised to send him any good shots of him I managed to create.

It was after he’d returned to the water I realized I had the opportunity to create the photo you see here. For most of the day I’d photographed paddlers using more telephoto focal lengths to zoom in on them and the action. But here I saw the potential for a wider view with the kayaker moving upriver, the larger falls in the distance, hopefully giving the viewer a sense of the anticipation of what’s to come, that slight calm before entering the rapids. I decided to title the photograph, To the Falls.

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Tranquility and Turbulence

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Tranquility and Turbulence, a Great Blue Heron watches the water rushing by below

Great Blue Herons are amazing creatures I’ve photographed many times, and hope to many times more. They can be showy and raucous, especially when around other herons competing for territory or mates. But they can also be such patient, quiet, and unmoving creatures.

Today’s photograph is of a Great Blue Heron standing on the rocks over the Potomac River at Great Falls, large quantities of water rushing by below. I’m always amazed by the contrast between the turbulence of the water and the seeming tranquility of the heron as it somehow gazes below the surface of the river searching out its next meal.

I love photographing at Great Falls. The sounds of the water act like white noise, almost drowning out other sounds, helping me focus on what I’m viewing. And the amazing speed and motion of the water keeps my attention, hypnotizing with its patterns and rhythms. I sometimes get lost in the scene.

The river can be very violent, depending on the water level. And yet, Great Blue Herons are still able to find places to fish, even in such fast moving water. They stand, perfectly still, surveying the water below. As seen in the photo, it can often be very muddy, and yet they see the fish below its surface. And as still as they often stand, it’s a real wonder to watch them when they finally lash out towards the water, beak opening to grasp a fish, forked tongue hooking the fish and pulling it in.

Have I mentioned how much I love Great Blue Herons? 😁

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