Most folks who shoot with me know that I’m a big fan of MANUAL Photoshop – getting it right in the scene and in the camera BEFORE you press the shutter release. I am NOT a big fan of “I’ll just fix it in Photoshop”. Even when I might be able to fix it in photoshop, it’s often just too much work. It’s ever so much easier to get it right first.
I recently led a photographic workshop at Indian Point RV Resort as a part of the City of Gautier, Mississippi’s 2nd Annual Plein Air Art Competition. One thing that I offered was to meet participants to shoot the sunrise on Sioux Bayou. When I am leading photographic workshops, I am usually not shooting much myself – focusing instead on helping the participants learn and get their shots.
We had a small group for sunrise, so I went ahead and got out my camera and tripod, and I was glad that I did.
Sunrise on Sioux Bayou
I had told them that there was a snag that herons and egrets often perched on. And just as the sun started to break the horizon, sure enough a snowy egret lit on the side of the snag. Then it moved on up to the top, right where I had envisioned it.
Now, I vastly prefer to shoot critters rather than landscapes, so when the egret perched up there, I didn’t even press the shutter release on my wide angle lens (my mistake). I went to the truck, and got out a long lens and another tripod so that I could get a cool egret silhouette shot.
I got the gear back down where I wanted it, got it set up, focused on the egret. Then I rotated the lens from horizontal to vertical, and the bird flew away! In a fit of pique, I went ahead and pressed the shutter release to add to my growing collection of “perch” pictures. Now, a perch picture is a picture of the branch (rock, log, etc.) that a bird HAD been perched on moments before.
Another shot for my perch collection!
As I looked at the image as I got ready to download my shots, I realized that I could “fix it” in Photoshop! So, I selected the brush tool, and drew a snowy egret right where it was before. But instead of making it just a dark silhouette, I went ahead and made it a somewhat natural-color snowy egret.
Now the snowy egret is on the perch where it had been moments before! I guess I CAN “fix it in Photoshop!”
That image earned me a pat on the head and “Nice job, Dad!” from my daughter, but something about her tone combined with that pre-teen eye roll makes me think that she just might have some other meaning in mind…
I did grab a few shots of some of the photographers shooting out of one of the two bird blinds, as well as a pair of photographers photographing an American alligator. The alligator came up and posed within 10 feet, as did a sora, and a trio of black-bellied whistling ducks. All in all, we had 17 bird species, two mammals, and a few damselflies, dragonflies, and fiddler crabs within photographable distance during the workshop.
Shooting out of one of the bird blinds at Indian Point RV Resort in Gautier, MS.
Another view out of one of the bird blinds at Indian Point RV Resort in Gautier, MS.
Gotta get eye-level to get a cool gator shot!
I did manage to get a couple of shots of the birds during the last part of the afternoon.
Boat-tailed grackles are ubiquitous – luckily the males are attractively iridescent too!
Black-bellied whistling ducks are increasing in number on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but they are especially increasing around Indian Point right now.
The sun was sinking, and the light wasn’t great, but the opportunity to photograph a purple gallinule on the Mississippi Coast doesn’t occur every day…
