Ling Ling Juang
About the Image(s)
There is an egret rookery on Google campus near my house. Every year between March and August, egrets, blue great herons and black crown night herons would build nests there and breed their youngsters. I am fascinated by these beautiful birds, I would go there every week until they are gone. I caught this picture of an impatient mother bird tired of feeding the constant hungry crying chicks. Is it time to kick them out of the nest?
ISO400. 220mm, f8.0, 1/1000 seconds.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted
Julie Deer
Hi Ling Ling,
What a great capture. You are correct that mother does not want to have anything to do with the chicks. You caught that well. Unfortunately, parts of the chicks are blown out. I do hope that you get a chance to go back again while the chicks are there.   Posted: 11/07/2024 08:32:13
What a great capture. You are correct that mother does not want to have anything to do with the chicks. You caught that well. Unfortunately, parts of the chicks are blown out. I do hope that you get a chance to go back again while the chicks are there.   Posted: 11/07/2024 08:32:13
Ling Ling Juang
Thank you, Julie.
The birds perched very high in the plane trees; It's difficult to get a clean shot.
I apologize. This image has very low resolution; I am still trying to learn how to export an image with size less than 1MB, and with at least 2014 pixel in width.   Posted: 11/07/2024 21:38:20
The birds perched very high in the plane trees; It's difficult to get a clean shot.
I apologize. This image has very low resolution; I am still trying to learn how to export an image with size less than 1MB, and with at least 2014 pixel in width.   Posted: 11/07/2024 21:38:20
Don Hill
Hey Ling Ling I tried doing some dodge and burn tool magic on your image but did not have much luck. As far as saving the image under the limit, There is a good way and I will talk to Andrew and maybe we should have a small class on this. I think it has to do with exporting the image instead as saving it at a lower image pixel. Maybe everyone is doing is the best way and I am just out of the loop. I know it can be frustrating. Nice image overall. I don't shoot wildlife because I don't have a good lens and so many photgraphers are very passionate about it. Keep clicking away.   Posted: 11/11/2024 03:52:52
Ling Ling Juang
Hi, Don,
Thank you very much for taking the time to work on this photo.
I seldom shoot wildlife since I don't have good equipment and also don't have the patience and skills to capture the moment. But these birds lived within 5 miles from my house, and their family drama unfolded in front of my eyes. I couldn't resist photographing them.
I think I know how to export photo from Lightroom now. Andrew showed me the correct specifications when exporting photo with limited size. Thanks anyway.   Posted: 11/11/2024 10:21:17
Thank you very much for taking the time to work on this photo.
I seldom shoot wildlife since I don't have good equipment and also don't have the patience and skills to capture the moment. But these birds lived within 5 miles from my house, and their family drama unfolded in front of my eyes. I couldn't resist photographing them.
I think I know how to export photo from Lightroom now. Andrew showed me the correct specifications when exporting photo with limited size. Thanks anyway.   Posted: 11/11/2024 10:21:17
Ling Ling Juang
Hi, Don,
Thank you very much for taking the time to work on this photo.
I seldom shoot wildlife since I don't have good equipment and also don't have the patience and skills to capture the moment. But these birds lived within 5 miles from my house, and their family drama unfolded in front of my eyes. I couldn't resist photographing them.
I think I know how to export photo from Lightroom now. Andrew showed me the correct specifications when exporting photo with limited size. Thanks anyway.   Posted: 11/11/2024 19:13:39
Thank you very much for taking the time to work on this photo.
I seldom shoot wildlife since I don't have good equipment and also don't have the patience and skills to capture the moment. But these birds lived within 5 miles from my house, and their family drama unfolded in front of my eyes. I couldn't resist photographing them.
I think I know how to export photo from Lightroom now. Andrew showed me the correct specifications when exporting photo with limited size. Thanks anyway.   Posted: 11/11/2024 19:13:39
Ling Ling Juang
Hi, Don,
Thank you very much for taking the time to work on this photo.
I seldom shoot wildlife since I don't have good equipment and also don't have the patience and skills to capture the moment. But these birds lived within 5 miles from my house, and their family drama unfolded in front of my eyes. I couldn't resist photographing them.
I think I know how to export photo from Lightroom now. Andrew showed me the correct specifications when exporting photo with limited size. Thanks anyway.   Posted: 11/14/2024 05:39:07
Thank you very much for taking the time to work on this photo.
I seldom shoot wildlife since I don't have good equipment and also don't have the patience and skills to capture the moment. But these birds lived within 5 miles from my house, and their family drama unfolded in front of my eyes. I couldn't resist photographing them.
I think I know how to export photo from Lightroom now. Andrew showed me the correct specifications when exporting photo with limited size. Thanks anyway.   Posted: 11/14/2024 05:39:07
Janice Solomon
Hi Ling Ling, what a great capture! You're so lucky to have this near your house! I flew from Maryland to Florida in March to see this and still didn't get to see what was inside the nests. I like the crop and the blue and green colors with the white birds. You might want to darken the whites in the background. Julie is right that part of the birds are blown out. In the future, you might be able to use a filter to prevent that. I'm not familiar enough with filters to know which kind to use - neutral density, UV?   Posted: 11/17/2024 19:48:02
Catherine Honigsberg
Love the family dynamics of this photo and that is what makes it special. These are hard birds to shoot because they roost high and are all white. I try to underexpose when I try to shoot these to give you some room to bring back some details later. Try to go later in the day and hopefully get some rim light on that crazy hair the chicks have.   Posted: 11/19/2024 17:46:50
Ling Ling Juang
Thanks! I will watch out next year when they return..I tend to over expose the white birds. Need to pay more attention.   Posted: 11/19/2024 23:23:37
Andrew Hersom
I agree with all the other comments.   Posted: 11/24/2024 10:39:05
Henry Roberts
Hi Ling Ling,
I like your image very much of the adult and immature egrets. I find it a little contrasty and have used masks in PS Camera Raw to darken the light areas and lighten the face of the adult. What do you think?
All of the suggestions above are helpful. Another suggestion would be to use manual exposure and underexpose by a stop or two when you have a small light subject surrounded by a dark background. Or if you want to use auto exposure, do a three stop auto bracket or decrease your auto exposure setting by one, two, or three stops.
  Posted: 11/25/2024 14:27:10
I like your image very much of the adult and immature egrets. I find it a little contrasty and have used masks in PS Camera Raw to darken the light areas and lighten the face of the adult. What do you think?
All of the suggestions above are helpful. Another suggestion would be to use manual exposure and underexpose by a stop or two when you have a small light subject surrounded by a dark background. Or if you want to use auto exposure, do a three stop auto bracket or decrease your auto exposure setting by one, two, or three stops.
  Posted: 11/25/2024 14:27:10