In the Field

Shaking off the Rain. Mussel Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC, Canada. October 2, 2006.

It had just quit raining when we encountered this Great Blue Heron. The sun was just poking through the clouds when the heron suddenly shook, apparently in an effort to shake off the rain.

Photographically this situation presented two challenges. While the image is dominated by midtones, there are some white highlights on the lower jaw of the heron. Normally I expose for the highlights and attempt to retrieve shadow detail during post-production work. In this case, because the image is so midtone dominated, I wanted to ensure that I retained the tonal range of the midtones. So I decided to potentially sacrifice a little highlight detail and expose for the midtones. As it turned out, in this case the "blown-out" highlight detail was recoverable during RAW conversion, but it did mean that I had to convert the RAW image file multiple times and composite the resultant images in Photoshop before coming up with my final image.

The second challenge was related to light level and my limits on shutter speed. To freeze the action of a bird shaking (or in flight), you normally need shutter speeds at least as short as 1/1000s. Unfortunately, given the ISO setting I had dialed into my camera and how fast this shot evolved, I had to settle for a shutter speed of 1/500s. MOST of the action was frozen, but some of the heron's primary flight feathers are blurred. While some would argue this implies motion and is a good thing, I would have preferred to freeze the action.

Behind the Camera

Shaking off the Rain. Mussel Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC, Canada. October 2, 2006.

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 100.

Nikon D2X with Nikon 200-400 mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR lens @ 400 mm (600 mm equivalent with digital conversion factor) supported on pontoon of Zodiac boat. VR turned to "On" and in "Normal" mode.

1/500s @ f4; no compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Shaking off the Rain. Mussel Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC, Canada. October 2, 2006.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass sharpening, exposure compensation, and tone curve adjustment, using Phase One's C1 Pro.

All further digital correction on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS2, including additional tone curve adjustment, selective use of warming filter, selective saturation enhancement and selective sharpening for web output.

Conservation

Shaking off the Rain. Mussel Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC, Canada. October 2, 2006.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Raincoast.

Species Status in Canada*: Pacific subspecies (Ardea herodias fannini) listed as species of Special Concern (April 1997); other populations and subspecies not currently considered at risk.

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is the largest, most wide-spread and best known of the North American Herons. Great Blue Herons are monogamous but breed colonially in congregations known as rookeries. Legal protection of rookeries in many parts of North America have had positive results on their populations. Currently most of North America's populations of these birds are considered healthy and stable.

This Great Blue Heron was photographed in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia and is a member of the Pacific subspecies that is listed as of "Special Concern" by COSEWIC. The Raincoast Conservation Society (and Foundation) is an effective and efficient organization that has been fighting for protection of the unique habitat that this heron was found in. If you are looking for a meaningful way to contribute to the conservation of this amazing ecosystem, Raincoast will provide maximal "bang" for your conservation dollars.

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada