Morning Pic

My friend the heron posed for a series of shots yesterday morning, in an exquisite tableau of a Pacific Northwest morning.

I went down to the river just behind Timberland Bank as the fog was moving off toward the harbor. Mist was rising off the water too, I think: I’m not sure if the mist was part of the fog bank or a separate phenomenon.

I experimented with the exposure setting on my camera, because the sun reflecting off the water was very bright. I think reducing the amount of light did allow the camera to pick up more detail; the darker image of the two below seems to show the mist more distinctly.

ISO-100; exposure bias -0.7

ISO-200; exposure bias 0

I moved a few feet down the bank to take a break and watch the mist –with the distant thought that I should sit still and see what showed up. In about five minutes the heron did; it flew across the river between me and the fog, silhouetted perfectly against the white, to light on a dock piling.

The flight is imprinted solely in my mind, because I had taken the camera and tripod down while I smoked and drank my coffee!

The heron perched there while I finished my break and the fog continued to move away. It didn’t seem to be going anywhere, so I walked about 50 yards toward the bridge to see if I could get an angle that would recreate the silhouette.

You can see how much the fog had moved in ten or fifteen minutes.

The heron sat there, very still at first, and then it started preening itself. I took 36 shots and two videos from my second position. The videos aren’t worth sharing, and the photos are so close in quality that it’s hard to pick – so I’ll share a bunch!

And here’s a look at my own perch on the river. The big rock was the perfect place for my tripod.

The Heron

The heron has made an appearance for several Morning Pic blogs now. I’m beginning to think of it as my faithful companion, both on the river and down by the harbor. Of course, it has been there for longer than the Morning Pic blog, and for me to notice it ‘showing up’ for the blog is probably anthropocentrism. It hasn’t started hanging around with me, really – I’ve started showing up in its home.

I am grateful that it tolerates its new guest, in that it does show itself and let me snap a few pics.

The Mist

And finally a short video of the mist. This was taken when I first started that morning, so the fog is much thicker than it ended up.