# Backyard



## labanc (Apr 11, 2005)

Backyard is relative  Well, not exactly in my backyard, but compared to driving to Brazos Bend every weekend Lake Woodlands is "backyard" enough. The spill way on the south side of Lake Woodlands hold many "fishing" birds. While I did not see an alligator there does not mean there was not one there 

--whit


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https://flic.kr/p/2560357678
Blue Sunset Heron










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https://flic.kr/p/2559531923
Landing of Elegance











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https://flic.kr/p/2559528625
Bad Feather Day


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Those are fantastic.!! The first one with the back lit reflections is my favorite of the bunch. Your post-processing is outstanding too.


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## Gator_Nutz (Sep 27, 2006)

Beautiful shots Whit. That 500 is really producing. I have to stop looking at yours and Brett's stuff.
James


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## sandybottom (Jun 1, 2005)

Ok, I'm trashing all my recent crane photos. You win!
Seriously those are beautiful and think how much gas you saved!!!


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## seawings (Aug 28, 2004)

Beauty is where you find it...often right around the corner. The secret is seeing it...and you certainly have. Thanks for sharing.


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## grayfish (Jul 31, 2005)

You have a great "backyard". Looks like a great place for water bird shots. Wonderful photos.


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Excellent work.


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Whit, the GBH is just an outstanding photograph. For me wildlife photography is so challenging to make all the elements come together. This is a model for all (and not just this board) to follow.

I'd love to know more about this shot and specifically how you were able to balance the backlighting. Congrats on a wonderful image and thanks for sharing it with us.


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## labanc (Apr 11, 2005)

Thank you all for your comments. 

Here is the scoop:

While the background of the GBH was taken at sunset, the background light is not the direct sunset, but reflected light from a large "neutral gray" condo complex on the lake. The natural "reflector" gives all of the light that the sunset has, but is softened and filtered a bit. The actual sunset was used for the main light to produce the warm light. The reflection from the condos was used as a hair (or feather) light plus provided background lights. I used an on-camera SB800 for fill. Without the SB800, exposure for the whole scene was off. I had to play with the SB800 to get the right balance of fill to properly expose the GBH and keep the same desired exposure for the background. A better beamer would have made the task easier ! ( about to go to B&H now 

I have to give credit to Fishphoto for showing me a picture last week with that technique.

--whit


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## labanc (Apr 11, 2005)

Here is another one that turned out.


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https://flic.kr/p/2559538329
Untitled


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

Great stuff. GBH is definately a wall hanger. Get the beamer, you'll like it... (-:}


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