This is one of my all-time favorite photographs.  I have spent untold hours watching and photographing Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets over the past two years, watching their behavior for signals that they might be getting ready to fly.  The evening this photo was taken, I had watched this Heron stand mostly in one spot for over two hours when he finally started moving around.  By that time, the sun was very low in the sky and the water was perfectly still, creating the beautiful pastel colors reflected from the evening sky and a near perfect reflection of the bird.  I knew he was going to fly, but not exactly when nor which direction, so I started watching through the viewfinder, with my camera set on a tripod.  It wasn't long before he started flying direct toward me.  I immediately pressed and held the shutter release, following his flight path.  As he got close to me, he turned.  I must have shot ten or twelve exposures of the bird as he flew, and had only a couple that were at all useful, but this one was the best.