Not taking off, or flying but landing: I am a bird lover but not to the extent of spending hours in a hide waiting for a fleeting glimpse of a greater speckled something or other. But...

conkerwood

I am a bird lover but not to the extent of spending hours in a hide waiting for a fleeting glimpse of a greater speckled something or other. But what fascinates me most is birds landing. Thats when they do amazing things with their bodies and feathers, it can be truely beautiful. So this is one of the hundreds (and no I am no stretching the truth, I mean hundreds) of birds that visit my garden every day at this time of year. It is a Little Corella. I have a window of about half an hour when the morning sun is coming in bright at a low angle, no tree shadows, and bright enough to set a fast enough speed but but still be able to scrape up enough depth of field to get these guys in focus, sometimes, well rarely. Ok if I get one right out of a couple of hundred shots then I figure I have done well. Its a real challenge but when it works I am one very happy chappy. FYC.

Peter

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Singing Swan

That is marvelous. Kudos for the patience I know this took.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Perfect!

The clarity is wonderful, the light lovely, the background so pleasing. Your patience surely did pay off, and we get the reward too. Love this photo!

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

conkerwood wrote:

Its a real challenge but when it works I am one very happy chappy. FYC.

Peter

It worked...a stunning capture Peter.

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Beautiful, graceful shot. Little Corellas are beautiful little cockatoos!

conkerwood

Thanks for the response, I am glad you liked the shot. As for patience the truth is it is 1 part patience, 2 parts having the right settings and 7 parts luck. I am shooting at a distance of 4.5 to 5.5 metres to get this sort of clarity. I have tried panning using AI-servo but at that distance the autofocus just can't adjust quickly enough. ( or just as likely my ability pan is rubbish) So my solution was to work out the most likely flight path and set the focus at the place on that flight path which would give me the best results. Great in theory but DOF rears its ugly head as the bird has to cooperate and enter the in-focus area at the right angle just at the moment of exposure. Thats where luck comes in. So you set the camera up, wait for the birds and take a hell of a lot of shots. This is the result.... sometimes.... when you are very very lucky.

Again thanks for the feedback.

Peter

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

We make our luck often Peter so sit back take the credit its simply superb my friend. Without any fault just magnificent photography.

conkerwood

Billyspad wrote:

We make our luck often Peter so sit back take the credit its simply superb my friend. Without any fault just magnificent photography.

Thanks Billy, you made my day.

Peter

SoHillGuy Loc: Washington

Lucky perhaps, but certainly diminished by your pre-photo setup actions which resulted in this beautifully composed photo.

Tell me what was the draw for the Corella to land at this location which enabled you to capture the action? Kind of reminds me of an Eagle preparing to capture it's prey.

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

conkerwood wrote:

I am a bird lover but not to the extent of spendin... (show quote)

Beautiful! Beautiful! shot. Composition spot on, cropping spot on, lighting spot on, great boken. Just a magnificent shot. Worth a high end frame. I would enter it in the photography show we have in town starting the end of the month if it was mine.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

conkerwood wrote:

I am a bird lover but not to the extent of spendin... (show quote)

testimony to some wonderful past lives!
Great karma!
Consummately magnificent image!

In awe,
Dave

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

This is as good, or better, than most of the images on the Birds-In-Flight / Birds-On-Water Forum and I think landing may have more to offer than assumed. There's a lot of strain in taking off, but landing typically gives that big open winged view and slows them down. Well done! S-

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

St3v3M wrote:

This is as good, or better, than most of the images on the Birds-In-Flight / Birds-On-Water Forum and I think landing may have more to offer than assumed. There's a lot of strain in taking off, but landing typically gives that big open winged view and slows them down. Well done! S-

Bird species with heavy wing loading ( parrots, short-winged Hawks, Eagles, Osprey cranes, waterfowl come into a perch landing slower and with more effort of control and take off more slowly than do species of lighter wing loading, most Falcons, accipiter Hawks, and the generally smallest passerine birds have more control to accomplish faster landings and take-offs.

Dave

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Uuglypher wrote:

Bird species with heavy wing loading ( parrots, short-winged Hawks, Eagles, Osprey cranes, waterfowl come into a perch landing slower and with more effort of control and take off more slowly than do species of lighter wing loading, most Falcons, accipiter Hawks, and the generally smallest passerine birds have more control to accomplish faster landings and take-offs.

Dave

That's good to know, thank you! S-

conkerwood

SoHillGuy wrote:

Lucky perhaps, but certainly diminished by your pre-photo setup actions which resulted in this beautifully composed photo.

Tell me what was the draw for the Corella to land at this location which enabled you to capture the action? Kind of reminds me of an Eagle preparing to capture it's prey.

Sometimes it can be a favoured vantage point that they compete for but mainly, as in this case, the great attraction is food. We have a bird feeder set up with just enough put in it, a couple of times a day, to supplement their natural diet without them becoming dependent. The problem is that the feeder is about a metre and a half long which is way more than the DOF my camera settings can cover particularly when you have the variable of all the different angles they approach from. So that is how the element of luck is needed.

Good to hear from you Gaylord, I hope you and all those you care about are keeping well.

Peter