Dr Isaac Vaisman, APSA, PPSA
April 2026 - Desperation
About the Image(s)
Grown up and desperate white Egret chick created at Orlando Wetlands this past weekend. The mother came back to the nest and the chick hungry and restless was requesting food, but the mother just ignored it. In desperation the chick started to bite the mothers leg. Unfortunately, there were som twigs along the view of the long lens that could not be avoided,
Used the Nikon Z8 with the Nikkor Z lens 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 + 1.4x TC for a total of 560 mm @ 560 mm and these settings: ISO 2200 (Auto setting), f/8 and 1/2500 sec. The image was PP in ACR and cropped.
6 comments posted
Terrific! The image is a bit busy with all the distractions but the story makes it ok. Nicely edited. Posted: 04/02/2026 18:04:00
A lovely picture story, in it's natural nesting environment. The exposure and focus is excellent. White coloured birds in a darker surrounding can play havoc with metering, which you have handled well. My only suggestion would be to try and get more feather detail from the RAW file, on that white plumage ? Posted: 04/06/2026 06:03:26
Oh, Isaac - what a great story! Appears this may have been a cloudy day(or moment) which enabled you to capture details in the plumage that might otherwise have been blown in full sun. Not sure there is a lot of the "fluff" that can be brought out in the chick simply because it's just so poofy at this age. You might be able to he REMOVE AI tool in LRC to just "disappear" just the top piece of twig. There is a natural joint that might be a good end-point for removal but "expose" more of the parent's leg. Of course, this would not be acceptable in a PSA Nature competition, but totally acceptable otherwise. I'm working off my iPhone tonight so it able to demo but I think it should be pretty easy to edit.
PS - all of these heron shots make me miss my annual Florida trip even more. I've been going for decades but it didn't work out this spring. I hope everyone will add more! Posted: 04/10/2026 00:28:49
PS - all of these heron shots make me miss my annual Florida trip even more. I've been going for decades but it didn't work out this spring. I hope everyone will add more! Posted: 04/10/2026 00:28:49
Isaac, This is a great shot and an unusual behavior that makes for a great story. I agree with Gerhard about extracting more details from the feathers if possible. Did she eventually feed the chick? Posted: 04/10/2026 16:05:29
Sarita, Did not feed the chick while I was there Posted: 04/15/2026 14:13:02
Isaac what a great shot and narrative - great power of observation and patience to catch this interesting interaction moment. i like the blurred background too. Posted: 04/17/2026 19:58:21