One of my favorite types of wildlife photographs are ones that depict the environment as well as the animal.  After all, animals do not live in a vacuum.  Environmental images can  give a powerful sense of place and can be an influential conservation tool since many natural areas have become threatened.

This morning I took a stroll at the wetland pond in Greensprings Nature Trail and saw an Egret fishing in the distance.  I tried unsuccessfully to capture him feeding, so I zoomed out to try and put the emphasis on his environment.

Since I was shooting into the sun and everything was very green, I tried a different approach in processing this image.  I used a split-tone in lightroom to create this toned black-and-white image.  Honestly, I'm not sure which one I prefer - they are very different.  The toned image adds a certain 'timeless' quality to the wetland environment.  I'll re-visit the image in a couple of days and see how I feel.

Original:

Split-toned: