Great Blue Herons are actually easier to photograph when hunting than when preening. When hunting they freeze for moments at a time, waiting perfectly still for a glimpse of prey below the surface of the water. When preening they are in constant motion. Still, you take what you can get. This bird was preening in one of the far back ponds at San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge in Irvine CA last week while I was setting up for the ZEISS / Sea and Sage Audubon Point & Shoot for Wildlife workshop. The light was subdued…fog in the air and a heavy Marine Layer (fog) above to filter the sun.

Nikon Coolpix P300 behind the 15-56x Vario Eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL spotting scope for the equivalent field of view of a 3000mm lens on a full frame DSLR. 1/200th @ ISO 160. f8 effective, limited by the scope.

Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness.