Comin' in hot

Gallery: AvianPosted May 15, 2011156 views12 comments

Last week I spent a little bit of time working on photographing an Eastern Kingbird landing on a perch which it used to hawk insects from. I sat on a culvert opening which gave me perfect directional lighting - unfortunately the perch was a little further from me than I would have liked. This was my first time attempting to capture a bird landing like this and it was a lot of fun. It's times like this though where a 500 f4 would really come in handy!

Nikon D300s 300 f4 + 1.7X TC HH Manual pre-set focus
f/8
1/1600s
ISO 800
-1.0 EC

Cropped to 65% (5X3), sharpened using Smart Sharpen and USM, noise reduction on BG, levels adjustment all in CS5 on 27" iMac

- Luke

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on May 15, 2011 at 9:14 PM

Luke, I like the dynamic landing pose and the spider silk. I think the blur of the primaries works just fine, in fact I quite like it. You're right, the 500 f/4 would have served you well here.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on May 15, 2011 at 10:24 PM

Great timing and moment captured Luke! A 500 might have been good here, but I like the inclusion of the branch and seeing the detail of the web, etc. Nice work.

Registered on February 26, 2011, 58 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 15, 2011 at 10:58 PM

Sweet job, Luke. Excellent timing and nice use of the shutter speed/iso tradeoff.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on May 16, 2011 at 12:56 AM

The larger version looks good here Luke, I particularly like the spider web.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on May 16, 2011 at 2:13 AM

A fine flight photo, Luke. The bird's intense focus and vertical extension make the shot for me. Good job on the blacks and whites.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on May 16, 2011 at 8:38 AM

Great detail, you can even see the spider silk below the bird. You caught the bird in a perfect landing pose The bg is a little dark for me but the light on the subject is, indeed, perfect.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on May 16, 2011 at 9:39 AM

Luke,
very nice landing pose and setting. The spider web is a plus. I like the light too.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 16, 2011 at 11:01 AM

Great POV and this light was definitely in your favor Luke. Settings look about optimal here..
Like the level of detail I see, and the bit of spider web adds nicely.
I just watched an Eastern Phoebe work the water for bugs. Got a perched shot with one its mouth, but the little sucker didn't cooperate for the flight segment

Well done

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on May 16, 2011 at 11:05 AM

Nice work on this one Luke! I like the extened feet and perch. I also like the slight blur and think it adds to the action. Your obvious patience paid off!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on May 16, 2011 at 7:18 PM

Love the overall feel of this shot Luke. The comp is great and the landing pose is really nice. The light, BG, and spider web really add to this shot. I could not agree more with your statement about the 500mm. Really a great lens for birds.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on May 16, 2011 at 8:47 PM

Great action caught , nice comp and a catchlight too

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on May 17, 2011 at 7:29 PM

This one made me chuckle. Neat shot Luke.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments