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Great Blue Herons are incredible hunters and can stand perfectly still for surprisingly long periods before striking with lightning-fast precision. Despite looking elegant and almost delicate, they’re opportunistic predators that will eat fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and even small mammals when given the chance. Their long necks work almost like a coiled spring, which is exactly what lets them spear prey so effectively in shallow water. Seeing one working the shoreline like this always reminds me how prehistoric these birds look up close.

Compositionally, I really like how the heron’s body forms this long sweeping S-curve across the frame, leading directly toward the catch. The low shooting angle helps flatten the perspective and emphasizes the reflection in the water, while the soft overcast light keeps the tones muted and natural without harsh shadows. Shooting at 300mm compressed the scene nicely and isolated the bird against the smooth water background, helping every detail in the feathers stand out. The fast shutter speed of 1/800s was a good choice here because it froze the exact moment the heron lifted its catch from the water while still preserving a tiny bit of movement in the dripping seaweed and ripples. Stopping down to f/8 also gave enough depth of field to keep most of the bird sharp from head to tail while maintaining a pleasingly soft background separation.

Camera: Pentax K-3

Lens: HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR

300mm / ƒ/8 / 1/800s / ISO 200

Montréal is one of the trickiest circuits for braking in Formula 1, and moments like this are exactly why. Drivers hammer from huge speeds into tight chicanes, balancing maximum braking with razor-thin margins for lockups and instability. Tire smoke like this only hangs around for a heartbeat, making it one of those blink-and-you-miss-it motorsport moments. Grandstand 12 is famous for putting fans close to the action through the Senna complex, where aggressive curb use, twitchy exits, and tiny mistakes suddenly become very dramatic.

I got lucky with this one. The camera was set to shutter priority at 1/1000s to freeze the action and I was zoomed out at 150mm. If I had kept the lens zoomed in to it’s full 300mm, I probably would have missed it. Even after cropping to roughly 45% of the original frame, I felt the composition still worked because it follows the racing line and leaves space for the car to move into, keeping some tension in the image. I also dialed in −1 EV exposure compensation to deal with the harsh afternoon light and hold detail in the smoke and reflective bodywork rather than letting highlights blow out. At ƒ/6.3 and ISO 200, I had enough depth of field to keep the whole car sharp while still prioritizing shutter speed for the action.

Camera: Pentax K-3

Lens: HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR

150mm / ƒ/6.3 / 1/1000s / ISO 200

Great Blue Herons always look incredibly focused when they hunt. They move so carefully through shallow water that every step feels calculated, and then suddenly they can strike with incredible speed. Up close, they also have this almost prehistoric appearance, especially with the long neck, sharp bill, and those thin head plumes trailing behind them.

Compositionally, the tighter crop changes the balance of the image quite a bit compared to the wider version. Removing most of the mountain backdrop makes the heron the clear subject while emphasizing its shape and texture against the smooth water. I kept the bird slightly off-center with space in front of its direction of movement so the frame still feels open despite the tighter composition. Shooting at 300mm compressed the scene nicely and isolated the heron against the soft background layers, while the low angle helped preserve the subtle reflection beneath its feet. The 1/800s shutter speed froze the heron mid-step, and shooting at f/8 kept detail throughout the feathers and face while maintaining soft separation in the background. The muted coastal light and calm water really helped preserve the quiet atmosphere from the original scene even in this closer crop.

Great Blue Herons are incredibly patient hunters and can stay perfectly still for long stretches before suddenly striking at fish or other prey. Seeing one framed against the mountains really emphasized the scale of the coastline and how connected these ecosystems feel.

Compositionally, I kept the heron low in the frame with lots of negative space so the mountains and open water would feel just as important as the bird itself. Shooting at 300mm compressed the distant layers nicely and helped bring the snowy peaks visually closer to the subject. The low angle flattened the water surface and emphasized the subtle reflection beneath the heron, while the calm conditions kept everything soft and minimal. The 1/800s shutter speed froze the bird mid-step, and shooting at f/8 gave enough depth of field to hold detail in both the heron and the distant landscape while keeping that soft atmospheric separation. I dodged the heron a bit to help it stand out against the cooler tones. I also adjusted the framing slightly in post-processing by bringing the mountain peak down a bit to keep the layered backdrop balanced within the frame.

Seal Bay protects one of the last relatively untouched coastal Douglas fir ecosystems in the Comox Valley. The combination of mild coastal temperatures and constant moisture creates ideal conditions for dense fern growth like this, giving parts of the forest an almost prehistoric look. Walking these trails felt a bit like stepping into another world.

I shot this handheld using a wide focal length to exaggerate the depth and winding nature of the trail. The railing works nicely as a leading line through the frame while the large rock helps anchor the foreground and adds a bit of visual tension. For processing, I tried something a little different than my usual approach. Starting from the original image, I created a black-and-white layer with the greens and yellows darkened while pushing the reds brighter, then applied it as an overlay layer. That helped deepen the greenery and tree trunks without making the image feel muddy. I selectively dodged parts of the ferns to bring back some brightness and texture before adding a subtle Orton effect for that soft atmospheric glow. Combined with the cool forest light, it gave the scene the moody I remembered it having.

Camera: Pentax K-3

Lens: smc PENTAX-DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR