ELMAR VENTER

Canon 1Dx Canon 500 mm lens with a 1.4x converter

ELMAR WRITES: I photographed this green-backed heron in the Loskop Dam Nature Reserve in Mpumalanga. I sat in a hide and used a tripod to keep my camera steady. The heron was cleaning its feathers. The posture of the bird and the soft morning light showed off the beautiful colours of its feathers.

TOAST SAYS: Morning light is as valuable to a wildlife photographer as a try in the first five minutes of a rugby game is for your team. Soft light gives you a great advantage. See how there isn’t a sharp contrast between the light and dark parts of Elmar’s photo? If he’d taken the same photo in the middle of the day, there would have been dark shadows. But now the light is more even – this helps to bring out the details on the feathers and makes exposing for the white (or lighter) parts of the bird much easier. It’s tricky to get your exposure right in harsh light, especially with a bird that has both light and dark feathers. The white can often seem too bright, or “burnt out” and there’s not much you can do to fix it afterwards. Another positive is how Elmar managed to capture the heron from an unusual angle. It’s busy doing something, which is always more interesting than a bird sitting still. Look at the lines in the photo – there are appealing contrasts galore: The angle of the heron’s legs go one way and the feathers on the lower part of its body point the other way. Likewise, the curve of the neck opposes the diagonal line made by the head and the beak. Finally, the yellow of the legs, beak and eye shriek for your attention, like reflective strips on a car. Well done!