I went a few times to the Palo Alto Bayland Nature Preserve. It’s located about 10 minutes off Highway 101. It’s an easy stop before going to a business meeting.
The preserve is the host of many birds and in the spring time one can assist to their nesting activities.
Here are some shots taken on May 11th, 2006. A Snowy Egret takes branches from a bush and brings them to the tree where the nest is being built.
I was lucky to get the following picture. I had set my camera on manual focus and set the aperture to a fix f4.5. The light was coming from the right direction and the composition played nicely.
Nikon D50 • Nikkor 70-210 • 180 mm • 1/500s • f/4.5 • ev 0
5.11.2006 9:02AM
I submitted an 11×14 print to the Palo Alto Camera Club in the Nature contest on July 2006. The judge (Jim Sherwin) liked it very much and gave it the 1st Place. There are a few characteristics that made that picture a “good” nature photo. The creature needs to be entirely visible, and in its natural environment. All parts need to be crisp and sharp, especially the eye. In this picture, the judge liked in addition to the technical aspects, the “story” element, the branch in the beck, the activity of nesting.
I submitted this pic to the Annual competition of the club for the year 2006 and it was awarded an “honorable mention“.