Shoveler liftoff

Gallery: AvianPosted February 7, 2014114 views8 comments

D800 200-400mm @ 240MM F8 1/1500 ISO 800

A Northern Shoveler taking flight in early morning. Even at 1/1500th I couldn't freeze the motion, but didn't have enough light to go much faster, but I sort of like the motion blur since it does indicate just how quickly this bird explodes on take off.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on February 7, 2014 at 8:44 AM

You've captured the moment of take off beautifully Bob. Good colours, a decent level of sharpness and water flying everywhere. I like it.

Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Shepherd on February 7, 2014 at 10:26 AM

Great action shot, Bob. I love the way the Shoveler is exploding out of the water.

Andy...

Registered on September 24, 2006, 123 Posts, 1254 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on February 7, 2014 at 11:59 AM

Nice take-off shot. I like the flying water and IMHO a little wing blur makes the image more dynamic but it is interesting that one wing is blurred more than the other. I guess one wing was moving faster or maybe it has to do with DOF. Either way nice shot.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 7, 2014 at 10:30 PM

Not much motion blur, bob. this looks nice-it really shows off the colorful wing. I think the blur on the far wing is just dof, which can't be avoided if you're going to come close to a high enough shutter speed for this shot. In some ways, I wish it was more parallel with the focal plane, but that would also hide some of that gorgeous wing.

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

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on February 8, 2014 at 1:10 AM

Great action Bob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on February 8, 2014 at 9:40 AM

Hi Bob: Nice capture of the motion. Like you said, I too like the little bit of motion blur to convey the motion. You said there wasn't enough light to go much faster. At the settings you posted, you could have easily gone to f/5.6 and with the D800, ISO 1600 is a breeze. Just those two settings would have provided 1/2000 if you would have wanted to go with a faster shutter speed.

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

Comment posted by Bob McQuade on February 8, 2014 at 7:58 PM

Keith
I generally top out at ISO 800, anything above that I feel is just a little too noisy for my tastes, and you're right about going to 5.6. I was using F8 trying for as DOF as possible, but with the motion blur DOF I suppose is kind of moot. I just don't think that fast though!

Registered on October 8, 2009, 214 Posts, 432 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on February 10, 2014 at 11:08 PM

Great action portrayed in this...I can almost hear it blasting out of the water. The splash is fantastic and I wouldn't mind seeing more of it if you have it. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments