CHEROKEE SUN PHOTOGRAPHY: Baby Egrets In The Nest

It's springtime, and for bird photographers it is a very special time of year. Birds start sporting bright breeding colors that really "pop" in the right light without using any color enhancement in post processing.

But another great thing about spring is it's also the time when many birds will be having their young and nesting. So wildlife photographers will, of course, be looking for opportunities to capture some images of the young birds enjoying their nest, without interfering or creating unnecessary stress for the parents or their babies.

One place that makes both birds and photographers happy is Gatorland in Kissimmee, FL. Don't let the name fool you. There is plenty more to see here other than just alligators.

In fact, the entire back of the park is a massive bird rookery that has a boardwalk and observation towers that allow you to get an up-close and personal view of the nesting taking place. This is especially good for photographers because we want to get fairly close to our subject and make the background go out of focus using a low f-stop so that the bird itself is highlighted in the image as much as possible.

In my last visit to the rookery just a couple of weeks ago, I came upon a nest that was really close by the boardwalk, and as it happened, was also backlit by the sun. The combination made for some interesting images, and here they are: