Heron, a photo from Basel Land, West

Photographer's Note

It is only 7pm and already pitch black when I was waiting for the bus to bring me home after a long day at work when I spotted this grey heron quietly sitting in the middle of the moat of the Bottiminger Schloss. As the castle was heavily illuminated by Chrismas lights, it created a special atmosphere (see workshop.)
Three old castles are located along the Birsig River in Benken, Bottmingen and Binnigen. The castle of Bottmingen has been kept almost in its original form. In the middle of the 14th century, it was owned by Episcopal family and in 1409 it was destroyed. Thereafter, it was rebuilt and changed its owner. At that time, the city of Basle was temporarily in possession of the castles of Bottmingen and Binnigen and compelled the residents to keep them open for the public. Today the castle is a renewed gourmet Restaurant of outstanding quality and specializes in groups and functions such as marriages.
You might wonder how comes that I have my camera and tripod available coming home from work. But as my boss needed some new photos of our place, I volunteered to take them.

holmertz, shaukatmi, pajaran, tyro, ikeharel, Royaldevon, cornejo, adores, macjake, delpeoples has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

holmertz (72325) 2015-12-11 11:23

Hello Daniel,
This composition is quite sensational. It's very original and the pink, white and yellow effects of the illuminated castle are outstanding. I would probably not have understood this photo without the note and the workshop. It has become a bit like a surrealistic poster. To my mind the castle has been totally overdone, but the illuminations have done wonders for this photo.
Jag цnskar dig en trevlig helg.
Gert

shaukatmi (487) 2015-12-11 11:32

Hi, Daniel.well seen and presented and without the wider photograph in the workshop I would not have understood how this beautiful surrealistic effect. The colors are amazing and contrast nicely with the darker ducks and Heron. Thanks for sharing.

Gigidusud (21669) 2015-12-11 12:38

Hello Daniel,
Superbe ce hйron dans les reflets scintillants. Une belle atmosphиre et de jolies teintes pastel. J'aime beaucoup le chвteau illuminй dans le WS aussi. Deux splendides photos nocturnes, bravo!
Bon weekend.
Gigi

dekanski (6489) 2015-12-11 13:58

Hi Daniel, very creative, and well done!

Loke it!

Saљa

willperrett (13080) 2015-12-11 14:15

Hello Daniel

This is a beautiful shot, and the lighting makes it almost surreal. In fact I can't quite work out what is creating the distortion in the lines of vertical lights. But it's this intrigue that makes the photograph work so well.

Regards

Will

tyro (26890) 2015-12-11 17:16

Hello Daniel,

Good Heavens! I cannot imagine anyone having the courage to attempt to take wildlife photographs of birds like a heron in poor light and with a long exposure. But there's no doubt that you have succeeded wonderfully well with this gorgeous photograph!!!

Judging by the smoothness of the water and the fact that there's some movement in the smaller birds off to the left, I presume your exposure was somewhere between one and five seconds (or something like that) but this heron has obviously stood perfectly still during this time and you have captured it perfectly. I find trying to photograph herons remarkably difficult even in bright light, so this is a remarkable achievement! And the background of reflections of Christmas lights is lovely, particularly the soft pink area around the heron itself.

And thank you also for your workshop picture of Bottiminger Schloss, beautifully decked with Christmas lights - a difficult subject too - but not nearly such a brilliant achievement as that heron!

Bravo!!

Kind Regards,

John.

kasianowak (12445) 2015-12-11 23:07

Czesc Daniel
This is a very beautiful and creative photo which I'm going to add to my favourites. The light and the reflection make it a work of art and the colours are almost unreal.
Pozdrawiam
Kasia

jemaflor (116186) 2015-12-11 23:20

Hi Daniel,
Very beautiful effect with this light and reflections, interesting presentation, well captured, tfs.

Royaldevon (54690) 2015-12-12 0:25

Hello Daniel,

Your boss obviously recognises your skill!

I was captivated by this shot the minute I saw it!
It has the qualities of silk taffeta as the light seems shimmer horizontally!
The heron is the star of the show but the ducks contribute by making the heron look so outstanding!

Have a great w/e,
Bev :-)

Nicou (171666) 2015-12-12 0:50

Hello

somptueuse image quel hйron et les autres oiseaux quel effet sur l'eau ces bandes et les tons fantastique vue superbe bravo.
belle journйe
Nicou

BennyV (24779) 2015-12-12 7:04

Hello Daniel

Great effect of the electric light and its reflections. The heron is unmoved by all the luminary action, even its shadow is blurred. A fine nature pic with lots of drama in it.

Benny

ikeharel (91786) 2015-12-12 7:44

This is just fantastic, Daniel.
A composition well made, a fine light brought this awesome reflection with the herons.
Going to work with a tripod, that's nice.
Both photos are interesting stuff, as the WS is an explanatory to the main photo. Keep taking camera with you - never know what's comes-up on the way home...
Enjoy a nice weekend,
Ike

cornejo (55808) 2015-12-12 11:36

Hello Daniel, excellent photograph of this beautiful and interesting minimalist composition, very well captured in this beautiful image with good sharpness, light, color and quality. Great and interesting job perfectly done, congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this beautiful work.

Good night and good Sunday.
Best wishes from the south of Spain.
Angel.

Cricri (144140) 2015-12-12 23:09

Bonjour Daniel
Merveilleuse image, sublime les teintes avec les reflets, trиs jolie aussi celle en WS
beau dimanche
cricri

Tue (58280) 2015-12-13 1:22

Hello Daniel,
The beautiful and festive reflections of the Christmas decorations in the water look really spectacular and you captured them so well. The heron is placed beautifully next to it and its sharpness is perfect.
Lars

adores (46937) 2015-12-14 16:08

Hi Daniel!
Im glad you did not miss the chance. It is perfect, the reflections and the birds make such a wonderful composition. Very good exposure also!

lousat (110379) 2015-12-17 3:56

Salut Daniel,c est une image absolument magnifique et tres tres originale! Quel choix du moment et quelle qualite aussi,pas facile se balancer parmi la difficile lumiere,les reflects et les oiseuax en ombre,simplement super! Belle journee et merci,Luciano

Silvio1953 (174218) 2015-12-20 5:30

Ciao Daniel, fascinating composition with fantastic reflections, great capture of lovely heron, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

eldancer1 (36343) 2015-12-20 15:20

Wow! Awesome composition and capture of this great blue heron! Sometimes being at the right place at the right time pays off. Good lighting and nice details. Well done, tfs.

macjake (83589) 2015-12-21 4:41

Hi Daniel
you know what i enjoy most about these photos....

Imagine living in the 14th century for a second, everyday things like heat and electricity we have today are after thoughts - but back then not so much....so imagine showing the original owners/builders of this castle your photo of it covered in Xmas decorations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh how times have changed :)

I know you said its now a popular spot and well respected restaurant, but its too bad its not used as an actual home for a family - that would be cool.

as for your photo here, Blue Heron's are very common here in BC, they're everywhere! Its not until you try to photograph them you realize how difficult it is.
and they're always larger then you think.

cool looking shot as the blue heron is motionless with its neck tucked in. thanks for the WS too.
cheers
craig

delpeoples (60286) 2015-12-23 18:30

Ciao Daniel

Your feathered friend seems quite unperturbed by all the activity on the lagoon. The Christmas lights and their reflections are stunning and I love how the heron sits perfectly still, almost like a silent guardian of the lights. Well-spotted and well-photographed. Thanks for sharing, and I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2016.

Warmest wishes
Lisa