This Heron was a nice distance for me. I try to catch shots in the mid range of a long lens whenever possible. They can have good depth and be wide enough to include the surroundings.
It’s great to see the subjects details however I personally to some perspective too.
In these you can see some shoreline, cypress trees, and even a couple Alligators in the background.
Over the years everyone gets a style and preferences. I guess these are mine.
The question of how much to zoom in is definitely one with which I struggle from time to time, Ted. Most of the time I will err on the side of zooming in too much, because I often find the surroundings to be too cluttered and take attention away from the primary subject. I personally prefer the third image, which I find includes the environment well, but is mostly blurred out and not distracting.
Thanks. I agree clutter and background is a killer for many shots. I push for more environment because (my opinion) the world probably doesn’t need any other close up xxx critter.
In addition 😀, after a day out there my arms are tired LOL.