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vawendy


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Double Take IV (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: 2012 Challenge shots
Date: Mar 30, 2012
Date Uploaded: Mar 30, 2012

 [Apr. 10th, 2012 10:37:20 PM]

So... about an hour away from my house, there's a great blue heron rookery.

I had known it was somewhere up in richmond, but I didn't know where.

Last year I found out where, but it was summer time and the activity was done. I was told to head out in february or march during nesting.

There are about 40 nests across the river from a walking path.

Here's one of the trees (and part of another)





The heron's were constantly flying around with sticks in their mouths





and would land in the trees



However, most of the nests were below the tree tops or behind the sight line. So it was very rare to see one actually landing with the stick.

This was the best of 3 partial days of shooting. Otherwise there weren't many savers in the bunch.

The b&w processing, and the flatness of the b&w processing was because it was a very sunny day, and there were big problems with the color version:



It had everything I needed, but the green leaves, brown branches and the contrastiness of the birds made it a messy photo. So I brought down the contrasts, flattened it out, so we could look more at the wonderful story.

It was fascinating watching the nest building of so many birds. Unfortunately, the trees have really leafed out now. I haven't been up in a couple of weeks, but I'm hoping to go soon, to see if there's anything left to see behind all the leafs.

Thanks for the wonderful comments and favs. Lots of ups and downs in this one -- I assume it's because of the processing. Even my husband is saying "enough of the contrasty b&w shots!" But sometimes it's the only thing that can save a shot. :)

Statistics
Place: 5 out of 126
Avg (all users): 6.6178
Avg (commenters): 8.4000
Avg (participants): 6.7164
Avg (non-participants): 6.5444
Views since voting: 2213
Views during voting: 282
Votes: 157
Comments: 26
Favorites: 5 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/12/2012 10:08:23 AM
Congrats on the HM and the PH recognition. It is a wonderful series of shots.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/12/2012 10:07:32 AM
I love this!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2012 09:13:50 PM
A masterpiece. I can appreciate the effort compared to my experience trying to shoot at a rookery on the Chesapeake Bay many years ago when my parents had a house there. The nests are so high as you mentioned and the movement of the birds so sporadic it is a severe challenge being ready for a shot. You must have very strong arms.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2012 04:16:42 AM
shot! i thought this may be zeuszen
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2012 02:47:57 AM
Wonderful composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2012 12:30:59 AM
Terrific shot Wendy!
Congrats on the HM.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2012 12:30:43 AM
Lovely! Really nice choice of processing, too. Congrats on the top 5!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
04/10/2012 11:44:00 PM
Fantastic capture and beautiful processing. One of my top two.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2012 11:33:34 PM
A dreamlike illustration. Superb movement. Top 3 for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2012 10:01:03 PM
This is an inspiring capture! This is a ribbon in my eyes. My only 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2012 06:43:45 PM
Very graphical. Beautiful work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2012 05:57:33 PM
Great shot ........ I love all the lines
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2012 01:57:44 PM
The editing of this makes it looks like a pencil sketch.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2012 01:19:14 PM
glorious. perfect.

I'm hanging this in my fantasy art gallery.

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2012 01:16:44 PM
Whoah... absolutely wonderful image. Great timing, great post processing. Just wow!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2012 12:44:30 PM
Ha! The pencil sketch approach is perfect here and the title couldn't be better. Really good.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/08/2012 01:40:18 AM
nice contrast - unique composition
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/06/2012 11:39:41 AM
Wonderful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/06/2012 03:20:01 AM
wow, cool - a bit too burned out, but still beautiful.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2012 07:31:47 PM
Make a motivation poster!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2012 12:07:50 AM
oh my god, this is GORGEOUS. i wasn't even planning to vote yet, just look, but had to comment and score a 10 as soon as i saw it. just love this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2012 01:35:01 PM
Beautiful black and white. love the contrast in the shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2012 12:36:42 PM
This is a stunning shot, perfectly pp'd. Seem to be Wendy's herons.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2012 10:03:26 AM
Best one in the challenge IMO, because you can't set this up. Even though the setup shots are better "eye candy" and "likable", I respect the difficult nature of this shot and voted accordingly :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2012 01:11:23 AM
Brilliant.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2012 12:28:33 AM
Looks like chinese painting. wonderful.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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