Wildlife with Ray - Hilton Head Marshes

[@nathanwatsonphotography]

Beautiful shots Ray, but I agree with you about the images with the oof foreground grasses. Love those shots!

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much Nathan, glad you like those as well!

[@thomastuorto9929]

I like them both & shoot both. I’ll get don’t do comments on shoot thru photos but do anyway. I like the look. I’ll always look foe the cleaner photos but also go out to shoot kind of like the shoot thru reeds, marsh, etc; , gives a sense of place & the environment plus, I like going back thru the photos that remind me of the time spent.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks for the great feedback, I agree very much with your feelings on it.

[@jwally3706]

Hello Ray I'm writing this on Jan 3 so Happy New Year. I have admired your work for a couple of years and I've always been inspired by your in camera and post camera technics. The sharp photos of birds are excellent as always however the photos of the more artistic blurred really stand out. When you put both images together I am drawn towards the Artistic ones.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much for following along and for the kind words! I appreciate hearing your feedback as well and it's great to hear you enjoy the unique images.

[@LouisaLee63]

I love both styles. The sharp portraits let you appreciate the details of the bird, but the artistic ones allow me to appreciate the entire image. I am freer to apply my interpretation of the scene. Thanks for showing both!!

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much for watching and for the feedback, I really appreciate it.

[@MichaelFogleman]

Good stuff, Ray! Y'all ever go to Pinckney Island down there? Cypress Wetlands in Port Royal, SC is also a great spot.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks Michael, yes we've been to those other locations as well, they can be nice. We love this spot because we can walk into the marsh and get in the water with the birds which you can't do in most places!

[@SomeonewithaSony]

Love the arty stuff. I do this with my macro quite a lot. I need to remind myself to try being more creative with my birds, too. You’ve inspired me, Ray. Check out Rob Blanken…he does all kinds of crazy artistic stuff with both birds and bugs; phenomenal work.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoy the artsy stuff as well! That's great you do it with macro as well and I'll check out the photographer you mentioned, thanks for the suggestion!

[@marthaweintraub663]

Love watching and hearing about your process. Your experimental,photos are painterly. Nice!

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much for watching, I’m glad you enjoyed!

[@just_me8389]

Hello Ray, if I had to decide which pictures to hang on my wall, I would always choose the ones with the painterly look. These pictures transport so much more feelings and emotions for me. I have tried this technic, but I found it really hard to achieve good results. Normally I try to place my subject in a gap, but your approach gives you fantastic results.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks for the feedback, it’s nice to hear I’m not alone with that feeling

[@zonhisham]

Hi Ray, How close were you with the Heron? Were you in a hide? TIA

[@RayHennessy]

I was maybe about 10-15 feet away at times and no hide at all. This particular location has oddly friendly birds and I still have not figured out why as there aren't around a lot of people. It's pretty wild!

[@zonhisham]

@RayHennessy wow that is awesome. I consider myself lucky if I am able to get within 50-70 feet from a group of storks and herons. The pond that they frequent is in a public park. They are used to human presence. However I just am not able to get close at a distance that I am able to work comfortably with my 100-400 on myZ8. Perhaps more luck next time 😆

[@RayHennessy]

@@zonhisham that's been my experience in most other marsh locations as well, there is definitely something unique about the friendliness of the birds at this spot.