Dew bejeweled and heron tongues...

I was able to visit the local heron rookery and flower depository in scenic Golden Valley this past weekend and got to photograph a plethora of visual treats.  My friend was persuaded to get up early for this adventure and we definitely enjoyed the time and coffee and muffins made it even better.  Dew still bejeweled the flowers and, gasp, Helen the Heron graced us with her queenly presence!

Someday I will take a macro lens with me, but these flowers were taken with the simple Canon zoom on a Canon 7d Mk2 for all those geeks and gear heads out there.  The heron photos were takem with the same camera but with a Leitz Telyt 560mm F 5.6, though you probably knew that just by looking at these shots.  They are surprisingly sharp for a 50 year old lens.  It was well worth schlepping the 12 pound lens to the pond, and Helen cooperated beautiful, flying nearer to me just for her close-up.  These are cropped pretty tight, but I think that you can see her beauty and charm.  That lens seems to be a 830mm lens on that Canon so it appears about 18 times closer than our "normal" view.  Kind of fun.  And who knew herons had tongues?  Or eyelids that slid from the side to protect them from the water when they fished?  Helen is amazing!  Double click to make them bigger!