During last week’s kayak outing in the dense fog at a nearby Missouri Conservation Department natural area, I came upon a pretty cooperative Great Blue Heron that let the kayak get relatively close (I was paddling south, with a light northerly wind at my back, so I let the wind carry the kayak towards where the heron was perched). As I got closer, the heron decided it was time to leave. Here is a set of images I captured from the kayak as the heron took off into the fog:
The above images were captured at an extremely high ISO (ISO 6400), which is really pushing the ability of the camera. But a few years ago, these shots would not have been possible in the pre-sunrise, foggy conditions, and from a kayak, that I encountered last week. There was substantial “noise” in the above images, which I reduced using Noiseless Pro software. Not great images, but lots of nice memories!
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 7D Mark 2 body
- Canon 100-400 mm, f/4.5-f/5.6 IS lens
- Handheld from the kayak, with IS “On”
- ISO 6400
- Aperture f/5.6
- Shutter 1/200 sec. to 1/320 sec.