Evan Animals
Heron fishing with Great Falls in Background
This was basically the shot i was hoping for when i discovered this amazing spot to shoot from. It took many, many days of waiting for a Great Blue Herons to show, stalking them, and just hoping they were in a good spot to get this background.
If you are at Great Falls Park (Virginia side) at Overlook 1, you can look straight down and to the right a little bit, and that is where this supreme fishing spot is located.
Stalking Notes:
Normally i would wait, sitting on the rocks or standing still, waiting for a great blue heron or double crested cormorant to come back. The heron's would stick to the rocks while the cormorants stayed in the water, mostly.
You watch as these huge birds fly all up and down the Potomac like a highway, flying up the falls, sometimes it appears they are going to fly straight into the waterfall. Sometimes they will fly near you and land in prime fishing spots. Once this happens, the stalking begins.
You can read tips online, but the most important thing is to move when they are preoccupied. It is a game. You can get very close without them ever knowing you are coming. Even if they spot you, you act cool and DO NOT STARE AT THEM, that is what predators do. You know, your cat stalks and stares down things. Don't do that. Once they give you attention, slowly look away and try to hold that for as long as possible. If you are close and the animal knows you are there, you can act a little nonchalant and don't give him attention. Don't use your camera, just wait for the animal to be comfortable with you. How do you know when they are comfy? They will continue doing what they were doing, in this case they will continue fishing without picking their head up to check you out every 20 seconds or so.
For some reason, i had a feeling this one was friendly and i used HASTE to get close and he wasn't scared. I was there the previous day and a heron was in the same spot for a long time and i was just as close. I don't know if it was the same bird, but this one was a super star. He would fish to the left, out of cameras view, and walk the fish to the right, into the perfect light and with the great falls in the background, he would throw up his fish and eat it. It was wonderful.
Photo Notes:
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 100-400mm L f/4.5-5.6
ISO 100
235mm
f/6.3
1/500 sec
Handheld
Heron fishing with Great Falls in Background
This was basically the shot i was hoping for when i discovered this amazing spot to shoot from. It took many, many days of waiting for a Great Blue Herons to show, stalking them, and just hoping they were in a good spot to get this background.
If you are at Great Falls Park (Virginia side) at Overlook 1, you can look straight down and to the right a little bit, and that is where this supreme fishing spot is located.
Stalking Notes:
Normally i would wait, sitting on the rocks or standing still, waiting for a great blue heron or double crested cormorant to come back. The heron's would stick to the rocks while the cormorants stayed in the water, mostly.
You watch as these huge birds fly all up and down the Potomac like a highway, flying up the falls, sometimes it appears they are going to fly straight into the waterfall. Sometimes they will fly near you and land in prime fishing spots. Once this happens, the stalking begins.
You can read tips online, but the most important thing is to move when they are preoccupied. It is a game. You can get very close without them ever knowing you are coming. Even if they spot you, you act cool and DO NOT STARE AT THEM, that is what predators do. You know, your cat stalks and stares down things. Don't do that. Once they give you attention, slowly look away and try to hold that for as long as possible. If you are close and the animal knows you are there, you can act a little nonchalant and don't give him attention. Don't use your camera, just wait for the animal to be comfortable with you. How do you know when they are comfy? They will continue doing what they were doing, in this case they will continue fishing without picking their head up to check you out every 20 seconds or so.
For some reason, i had a feeling this one was friendly and i used HASTE to get close and he wasn't scared. I was there the previous day and a heron was in the same spot for a long time and i was just as close. I don't know if it was the same bird, but this one was a super star. He would fish to the left, out of cameras view, and walk the fish to the right, into the perfect light and with the great falls in the background, he would throw up his fish and eat it. It was wonderful.
Photo Notes:
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 100-400mm L f/4.5-5.6
ISO 100
235mm
f/6.3
1/500 sec
Handheld