Snowy Egret in Flight Transparent Watercolor Step-by-step

This painting has been on my “to do” list for a long time. I got photos of this cooperative bird while on a photo trip to Ft. Myers, Florida with my brother Ted. We hit Little Estero Lagoon a number of times. That is a high yield area for wading birds that are habituated to humans. As the tide recedes it leaves some shallow ponds filled with trapped fish. The egrets, herons and ibis come in to fill their bellies while you fill up your camera’s memory cards with photos. It is a Win/Win situation for everyone except the fish.

The challenge is combing through hundreds of nearly identical shots to find the occasional gem. A photo professor I had years ago once said the thing that makes a good photographer is throwing away a lot of photos. I’ve thought about that over the years and think his statement is true on many levels. First, learning anything worthwhile takes plenty of practice. You make a lot of mistakes in that process and throw away many of the results. Second, as you improve over the years, some of the things you thought were great early on are surpassed by your more practiced efforts, so you throw away some more. Third, with some kinds of shooting, like wildlife photography, success depends on having the basic skills honed and being at the right place at the right time. Excluding equipment, it comes down to having your technique on “autopilot” so you can concentrate on framing and anticipating behaviors. The motor drive is a great thing, but it does make for a lot more shots to pick through.

I’m not the greatest photographer in the world, but I’ve steadily improved over the years. Digital photography has been great for me. It encourages experimentation with immediate feedback so your learning curve is easier. The downside of digital photography is the temptation to “rescue” bad photos in Photoshop. Typically I only use Photoshop to crop images and remove dust from the sensor. For a once-in-a-lifetime shot, I might also adjust the exposure. Otherwise, I try to do my editing in camera rather than in Photoshop.