Little Blue Heron tends his garden

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This image is one of those very simple cases of timing where as a photographer you can visualise a certain image, all the elements are present, but it’s a matter of finding that brief moment of timing that connects them.

Early one morning in Cuba I was driving along El Pedraplen, the causeway that connects a number of small offshore cayos with the Cuban mainland. I spotted this Little Blue Heron at the water’s edge, but could only approach him with the low sun directly behind the subject. A silhouette shot was the only option, but the heron was initially positioned amongst mangroves which cluttered the composition. With a little patience the heron finally moved into a rock with a single water lily growing at the water’s edge just behind. The lily caught some sunlight through its leaves, giving it colour and  adding to its interest within the scene. These three simple elements worked much better but I wasn’t hopeful that the heron would pay any attention to its immediate surroundings. A small fish must have swum past, as for a brief moment the heron looked down into the water, but from my position gave the impression of it carefully studying the flower and the image was made.