“Newport Hunter” by John Mirro, a high contrast photo of a Snowy Egret stalking its lunch in a tidal pool at Newport Beach; photo was taken with a Nikon D500, f11, ISO 125, 1/500 sec., 80-400mm lens zoomed to 200mm.
Lynn Warren
The Photo of the Month for January is an impressive close-up of a Snowy Egret by John Mirro, club secretary. While on vacation at Newport Beach in November, a beautiful section of California coast, John noticed the egret hunting in a small tidal pool close to the ocean. Its primary concern was the small sea life inhabiting the pool and it seemed oblivious to people walking by, which simplified capturing a good picture. John used his Nikon D500 with an 80-400mm lens, probably zoomed to 200mm. This created a shallow depth of field so that the egret is in sharp focus with a soft background, which is highly desired, but it can also be challenging to get the proper exposure on a high contrast composition like this, since a bright subject with dark surroundings can cause the camera to underexpose. For information about the Camera Club, visit the club website at pebblecreekcameraclub.com or email Keith Cunningham at [email protected].