Classification: Natural Location: Doxey Marsh, Staffordshire

Not the best shot in the world, but one I quite like because of the bird, and the time of day. Doxey Marsh can be found on the outskirts of Stafford. A town I used to live in. It has a main train line running through it, the M6 running through it, new houses being built next to it; but it still has a wealth of wildlife.

There are a few small rivers running into lakes there, along with a couple of nice hides that have been erected by the Wildlife Trust. If you go there on a crisp winter morning, and watch the sun come up, you can get the most amazing light, steam rising from the water, and the early morning Heron's out to catch breakfast.

This is a cropped image, as the Heron was spooked a little by me even at distance. Using the 70-200 mm lens, with the camera in crop mode (D700), a high ISO (1600), and a medium F-stop, it caught the Heron at the right angle for the light to illustrate the colours and patterns on the wing.

You could say this follows the rule of thirds precisely. The Heron is placed on the intersection of the top right corner third, the landscape is divided into the three horizontal thirds, and the bird is flying into the picture with space in front.

Why do I think it's just an Okay picture? Well, the background has the pylons in for the train line, and the because of the ISO it's a little grainy. The colours are nice because of the lights and the time of year with the grasses giving that lovely brown!!