Bufflehead in Flight

Gallery: AvianPosted March 15, 2015133 views7 comments

I searched the NPN avian images and was unable to locate a single image of a male Bufflehead in full flight. There were a few in runway type takeoffs from the water. I think this is testament to the difficulty in capturing these guys in full flight. I feel their wings are somewhat small in relation to their body. When they do fly, it is close to the water and they are very, very fast. It is sometimes difficult to lock focus on these guys with shoreline objects whizzing by in the background. So, this is one image from a few decent ones I obtained a couple of days ago. I wish my shutter speed had been higher, but the sun kept peeking in and out. Sometimes my settings would give very fast shutter speeds, sometimes not so fast. These guys are quickly becoming my obsession. (smile)

Processed using Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC 2014. I cloned out some distracting shoreline elements from the top of the frame. Comments and critiques welcome.

Canon 7D Mark II
Canon 200-400 f4 L IS
f7.1
1/1600s
IS0400
Foca Length 560mm (Teleconverter Engaged)

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on March 15, 2015 at 10:49 AM

Quite an achievement Jerry, they seem to be fast flyers indeed. You did a great job capturing one in flight - hats off !

, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on March 15, 2015 at 12:06 PM

This is a really nice shot. I've tried to get Buffleheads in flight and they are fast fliers, so getting this degree of sharpness is quite an achievement. Way to go.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on March 15, 2015 at 2:09 PM

perfect exposure - great colors perfect exposure and nice job framing

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on March 15, 2015 at 7:17 PM

Wow Jerry you nailed this one. The whites seem a little hot but it may be my monitor. Really nice job!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 15, 2015 at 10:03 PM

Jerry, you hit the head on the nail with both this image and with your assumption of how hard it is to capture these guys in flight. They are very fast and I usually don't see them until they are almost in my rear view mirror and by then, just forget about it! I actually do have a couple, but not the shot I really want. I will not post one until I have the image I think of in my head. With these guys, that might take a couple more years!
Anyhow, really super job on this. My only nit is the the white of the head seems a bit hot...and is so very hard to not do because of how dark the rest of the head is along with the darker water. I think it looks very fixable though in PP. Again, pretty small nit on a very fine shot. Congrats!

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

Comment posted by Paul Knox on March 16, 2015 at 1:20 AM

I'm not to good with bird species Jerry, but what ever it is, it's a great shot, seems like it was a good effort to capture it so sharply as well
love it !

Registered on March 11, 2015, 20 Posts, 70 Comments

Comment posted by David Bogener on March 16, 2015 at 11:26 AM

I like everything about your capture of this little bullet. I appreciate the difficulty of getting a sharp flight shot of these guys. Sharp with a nice look at those wonderful head colors. The background compliments the subject well without distraction. The whites may be a little hot, but not difficult to remedy in PS.

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments