Green Heron & Reflection Compared

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While visiting Merritt Island NWR in Florida, I have been amazed by the detail preserved in the reflection of birds when the water is still. Actually, I seem to have become addicted to including the reflection in the photos of my subjects. Evidence of my addiction is found below.

Photo of the Green Heron

Photo of the reflection of the bird

The reflections of the birds are a bit darker than the image of the bird. It should be noted that during post processing, I adjusted the exposure slider to try to remove that difference in order to enable comparison of the detail in the image of the bird and that of the reflection.

The photo of the reflection of the bird has been flipped vertically.

Image of the bird on the left and the flipped version of the reflection on the right

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.