From about 15-20 feet away with a 450mm (35mm equiv.) lens - about as close as I've gotten. Pleased with the quality from my relatively inexpensive 70-300 lens for this type of shot - pretty good detail all around. Just to prove that you can always find something to complain about - I wish the heron hadn't decided to park on the other side of the weeds. A couple of more if you like this level of detail - http://www.pbase.com/ed_k/image/37947426 and http://www.pbase.com/ed_k/image/37947427 and http://www.pbase.com/ed_k/image/37947428