Landing Blue Jay

Gallery: AvianPosted June 7, 2011253 views14 comments

Sugar Land, TX June 07, 2011

D3. ISO 1000. 300/2.8 f3.5 1/5000s -0.7ev. Gitzo. Wimberly head. Natural morning light.

Well, thank goodness for the delete button. Catching passerines in flight is nearly impossible and I have been working my techniques for the last couple of weeks trying to get anything vaguely consistent. You cannot track them !!! (Well I can't anyway) I'm not there yet but... coming along.

Here is what I did. Moved back about 20 feet from the feeder and took off my trusty 2x tc to get a larger field of view. I cranked up the ISO to get the speed in the 1/3000-5000s range.

Put the perch in the lower left corner of the field (my birds generally fly in from the trees to the right of the perch) and set the initial focus point on the perch. Hook in to my wireless remote, so I can watch for the birds as they initially fly. Set my camera to usual flight setting for the D3 including the 51 point 3-D focusing. 11 frames per second. As soon as the bird takes off out of the tree or onto the perch I start to shoot. If I wait until they are "close", I guarantee they are fully landed before I get the first shot off. (Maybe my reaction time is not as good as when I was younger.) I did discover something too. If they are about to land, they squint or close their eyes, so you have to get one several inches before they land.

Hope someone finds this useful.

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on June 7, 2011 at 11:07 PM

Well thought out image Angela, wonderfully sharp and well exposed result. My only suggestions would be to try and improve on the background by getting a bit more distance between perch and background, or finding a different location if possible. Not that the background is "bad", just a bit of a repetitive pattern that maybe could be improved upon. I love shooting my D700 (similar/same sensor as D3) for the ability to shoot with impunity at iso 1000, just so little noise and nice dynamic range.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on June 7, 2011 at 11:28 PM

Yeah, my yard itself could use some work, but unless I install my feeder in the swimming pool, I'm not sure how much father away from the background that I can get.

When we designed the yard I was more of a lounger than a photographer.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Canuel on June 7, 2011 at 11:40 PM

Nice timing in capturing this pose and thanks for sharing your technique. Sharpness looks very good and the BG compliments nicely.

Registered on September 12, 2010, 53 Posts, 660 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on June 8, 2011 at 12:09 AM

Many thanks for sharing this beauty of a shot with us Angela and particularly for detailing your technique and insights :^)

In the week before I set off on my last trip I spent the better part of four days at the same location determined to capture shots similar to this of Indian Rollers with increasing consistency, as colourful passerine BIF shots are my absolute favourites and my goal is to become proficient enough in capturing them to build up a stunning collection. With this in mind, you can surely appreciate why I love this one so much :^)

Having said that, I've yet to develop the best of the BIF shots I took during that last week, and since returning home nearly three weeks ago I haven't been out shooting even once ;^. But this shot of yours has awakened me to this fact and inspires me to get back out there soon as I can, so thanks yet again ;^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Greg Linhares on June 8, 2011 at 12:47 AM

This is a WONDERFUL SHOT Angela!!! I really love how you can see the beautiful blue feathers on top of the right wing! The head and the feet are incredibly sharp too!

The only feedback I would add is that perhaps you might even try increasing the aperture to f/5.6 or even f/8.0 simply because of the angle that the bird is coming in from. There's a greater depth of field to maintain focus in (i.e. from the tip of the left wing to the tip of the right). It looks like the 1/5000 did a fantastic job of freezing the motion, and at ISO 1000, there's still very low image noise. You could probably get away with slightly increasing the ISO and the aperture in order to maintain the same 1/5000 shutter speed while increasing the depth of field for the wings... just a thought.

Really love this shot!!!

Registered on June 1, 2011, 10 Posts, 15 Comments

Comment posted by Harshad Barve on June 8, 2011 at 1:42 AM

Excellent pose, details and colors

Registered on July 25, 2010, 39 Posts, 210 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on June 8, 2011 at 6:46 AM

Tremendous shot of a very difficult subject. I find that getting flight shots of birds this size is easier on take off than landing - not as difficult to predict.

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on June 8, 2011 at 8:42 AM

Pretty sweet image Angela. Very nice planning and execution. A very high degree of difficulty capture to get it right. Nicely done.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 8, 2011 at 9:47 AM

Excellent ideas, Angela, and the results show it. Very well done.

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

Comment posted by David Sparks on June 8, 2011 at 10:55 AM

Thanks for the info on how you got this excellent flight shot. No nits from me. Interesting tidbit about eye closure before landing.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by antino cervigni on June 8, 2011 at 10:57 AM

Very nice flight shot and details
Ciao Antino

Registered on April 17, 2010, 70 Posts, 202 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on June 8, 2011 at 7:35 PM

Wonderful shot, and thanks for the information on how you achieved it. I'll want to put your technique to work,

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on June 8, 2011 at 8:49 PM

I'd be very happy with results like this. Thanks for providing the details of how you pulled this off.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on June 9, 2011 at 2:50 PM

Wonderful timing to get this, your hard work is paying off and interesting to read how you approached this, way to go, looking forward to more.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments