The fishing vessels sailed home to Drayton Harbor. The seagulls, the gentle music of the lapping tide, the local folks, and visitors to the Semiahmoo Resort are gathering for the sunset. The herons wisely chose a rock outcropping to hunt from. And, of course, I also walk down to capture the sunset. This is the cycle of the pre-sunset hour at the Semiahmoo Spit.
There are always surprises. I love the good ones, and this picture is one of them.
It's tricky shooting a sunset and a heron hunting at the same time. I decided to focus on the heron with the sunset colours as a background. Due to the heron's chosen rock outcropping, I was forced to shoot mainly into the sun. A large fishing vessel powered home to Drayton Harbor, leaving its distant wake rolling towards shore. The long lines of the wake began to reach the heron's rock outcropping. The wake created a scene of light and shadows upon the water as the long lines rolled in. I shot the heron consecutively, hoping at least one RAW file would work. In this picture, the great blue heron posed with its neck straight at a favourable angle for a sunset silhouette capture.