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2020Chasing the Light
Shot of the Month – November 2020
I initially titled this blog post “Cocoi Heron” as that is the name of the beautiful bird in the image. But even as I typed out the letters, C-o-c-o-i H-e-r-o-n I knew that that title did not capture the real essence of the shot. When I came upon this scene I gasped, not because of the bird, but because of the L-I-G-H-T. Many nature photographers talk about “chasing the light” to capture the occasional special image.
I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical. (Trent Parke)
I found this bit of magic in 2019 as we visited the Pantanal in search of jaguars (video). Each morning, just before sunrise, we would load our gear into our small skiff and begin to cruise the rivers in search of wildlife. On this morning we came around a bend in the river and I gasped when I saw this scene. The light was stunning — I instantly reached for my camera as I signaled our “captain” to stop the boat immediately. The soft, delicate glow of the low-morning light perfectly lit the heron as he searched for a meal. I also loved how the heron was separated from the background giving the image a real sense of depth. These are the types of settings that nature photographers spend hundreds of hours searching for and they often only last a few moments each day.
Another axiom of nature photography is that good things often come to those who wait. A great technique to see wildlife is to simply stop in one place and let nature unfold before you. In this case, we stopped for a few minutes to allow me to shoot the scene with a variety of compositions. After shooting multiple shots in a landscape orientation I rotated my camera 90 degrees to shoot in portrait mode. At this point, I wanted to explore that wonderful reflection of the heron on the water. As I was shooting the heron suddenly plunged his head into the water and speared a fish. By pure luck, I had the entire scene already perfectly framed for this action (a very rare event indeed) and I only had to hold down the shutter button to capture the sequence. We witnessed this great behavior only because we stopped and spent some time with the bird.
On another day we found the same heron in some soft light that allowed us to really see his beautiful markings and colors and the wonderful detail of his feathers.
Those of you living in North America can be excused if you thought this was a Great Blue Heron – the two birds are almost identical and make up a superspecies. The Cocoi Heron however is only found across most of South America.
So in short, the improved title for this post pretty much sums up my lot in life — I’m just a dedicated “light chaser.” When I am not working you know where to find me — I’ll be out in some field, swamp, forest, or jungle chasing the light, looking to capture that fleeting magic that illuminates life at its most glorious. Let the chase begin!
Until next month….michael
Sources:
Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm, f/4, 1/1000 sec, ISO 500
