Wildfires are rampant in California. Although not as bad as to the north, the southern part of the State has also been shrouded in smoke and ash for several days. While it is still fine to capture images at fairly short distances but anything beyond 40-50 feet or so becomes an ugly grey mess…. .
The light becomes orangey until about 10:00AM or so and it starts like that at around 4:00PM. Although a few shooting buddies and I came to this wildlife sanctuary for something else, we noticed this reddish egret that was feeding at a fairly close distance. To a certain degree the warm light although it was a little over 5:00 benefitted the colors of the reddish egret. Here are several images of this seemingly still a juvenile then. It scoured back and forth for food and then it hopped further away.
Thank you for visiting and please feel free to leave any feedback,
Joshua
The reddish have such an active method of hunting. I've been told they are shading the water to attract fish.
They are interesting subjects and you got some great shots.
Gorgeous set Joshua. You captures some lovely poses. The fires are terrible yet you are experiencing a nice improvement caused by them. No sunspots as we are at a solar minimum.
RustyBug wrote:
Who knew that porcupines had wings? Only in California, I guess.
Haha, thank you for your comment, Kent! And I hope it stays there albeit all the fire conditions here.... .
dclark wrote:
The reddish have such an active method of hunting. I've been told they are shading the water to attract fish.
They are interesting subjects and you got some great shots.
Dave
Thank you very much, Dave! I did have a few of their hunting behavior but they are from a few years back....
morris wrote:
Gorgeous set Joshua. You captures some lovely poses. The fires are terrible yet you are experiencing a nice improvement caused by them. No sunspots as we are at a solar minimum.
Morris
Thank you very much, Morris! I am not sure about going out for capturing wildlife as the conditions seem to get worse than a few days ago when I took those...
Fabulous images. There is a comical aspect, as if it was a cross between an egret and Bill the Cat from Bloom County years back, if you remember him...
AGeoJO wrote:
Thank you very much, Morris! I am not sure about going out for capturing wildlife as the conditions seem to get worse than a few days ago when I took those...
It is a great opportunity for unique images. You may have noticed that I love to shoot in fog because of the soft light and interesting look that is possible. Smoke can be nasty. If you can find a N95 or K95 mask that should prevent the irritated throat that the smoke creates. Even a dust mask will help yet not as much.
You have done it again Joshua with a marvelous set full of wonderful poses !!! No favorites as I really enjoyed each and everyone. They are truly amazing and lots of fun to watch as they prance around all a flutter
photonoclast wrote:
Fabulous images. There is a comical aspect, as if it was a cross between an egret and Bill the Cat from Bloom County years back, if you remember him...
Thank you very much, photonoclast! I somewhat remembered that cartoon character but I did look it up again to make sure and I saw that uncanny resemblance .
morris wrote:
It is a great opportunity for unique images. You may have noticed that I love to shoot in fog because of the soft light and interesting look that is possible. Smoke can be nasty. If you can find a N95 or K95 mask that should prevent the irritated throat that the smoke creates. Even a dust mask will help yet not as much.
Morris
Thank you very much, Morris! Yes, that’s true but fogs are whitish and can create a certain mood. The smoke here, on the other hand, is nasty and it renders far away targets like shrouded in dirty gray. For the time being I am not going out and cut the duration of my daily morning walk.
Bryan Crowe wrote:
What a wonderful subject and show he put on for you.
Crazy conditions we are under here in So Cal.
Hope to see you in clearer skies soon,
Bryan
Bryan, thank you very much for your kind words! The conditions should be better by next week according to the forecast. And the white-tailed kite chicks should fledge by then, too.
G.E. Smith wrote:
Joshua - These are Fabulous ! #4 really stood out to me, but all are great.
Greg
Thank you very much, Greg!
birdied wrote:
You have done it again Joshua with a marvelous set full of wonderful poses !!! No favorites as I really enjoyed each and everyone. They are truly amazing and lots of fun to watch as they prance around all a flutter
Birdie
Birdie, I really appreciate your kind words! I am glad you like the images.
kdrk888 wrote:
Beautiful set, Joshua. That sun is so unique!
Thank you very much, Douglas! Yes, but too bad the air is unhealthy...
That is a beautiful 'orange' in the last shot Joshua
I wonder if there is a reason for the tail feathers that drag in the water with these guys. First shot and last shot work great, I like shooting in the fog for the mood it offers, this must be a new and perhaps fun challenge to work with the smoke.
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