Photographed at the Effie Yeaw nature center in Carmichael, California. True to form, this particular heron preferred the deep shade under several large trees, where the light was dim at best. The combination of the long lens a wildlife photographer must use, and dim light, results in shutter speeds which invite poor image quality from camera motion or subject motion. A technically correct exposure would have required a shutter speed of only 1/15th of a second, too slow for sharp pictures. I deliberately under-exposed this photo at 1/30th of a second to reduce the risk of a blurry picture, hoping that enough detail would be recorded on the film to bring out with subsequent processing.
