Different Time--Different Light

The time of day can make all the difference in the world with the way a photo comes out. Just to prove this, I'm posting both these photos taken at the same place, the same day, but different times.

This first photo of this pond was taken earlier in the afternoon about 4:00 pm, if I remember correctly. The light was very bright and contrasty, so I admit I had to tone this down quite a bit.

The second one was taken about 6:00 as the sun was coming down closer to sunset. This photo was only darkened up a bit at the top. As you can see, with the golden light of the sun about to set, it made all the difference in the world.

These were both taken in March at a rookery we found. The white spots you see in the trees are actually birds nesting or roosting.

It's an amazing place with literally thousands of birds. They come in droves to roost. It's strange to watch. When we got there, there was mostly Wood Storks and Great Egrets busily building their nests. While the female waited, the male would keep flying off to get nesting material and bring it back to the female for inspection before she began to weave it into the nest. It was relentless to watch the males fly off and bring back a bit at a time.

A little bit later, we saw the Snowy Egrets come in; probably about 50 at a time. The Little Blue Herons followed them, then the Glossy Egrets came in. Each time they'd come in and take their place. After a few minutes would pass another round of 25-50 birds would come in. They all had their special tree. By sunset, the trees were full of roosting birds.