Let me start by saying I am not a wildlife shooter and these shots happened purely on accident. By that I mean, I was in the right place at the right time. I got a new lens yesterday (Sigma 120-300 2.8 OS) and like we all do, had to go test it out. I dropped my youngest at football practice and headed across the street to hopefully just grab some pics of gulls since I knew that' they'd be active and a great subject to try the new gear on. Five minutes in, I sensed something a lot bigger coming overhead and there was "Harvey" (my wife named him since she does yoga on a rock near this spot and sees him all of the time. I couldn't believe how peaceful the whole things was. The heron didn't seem to mind my presence at all and there were no people, just a warm night with some calm water and a beautiful creature in front of me. I probably spent as much time just watching as I did shooting. It was awesome and made me wish I actually had more opportunities to shoot wildlife. I love animals but I certainly understand your passion for shooting them better after last night. Anyway, here are a few of my "test" images. Hope to improve if I get more chances to do so but I do think the lens did well and with a little calibration to my 1D3, may even do a bit better.
and of course, this joker!
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