Blue Heron

Went to Monument Valley Park in Colorado Springs late this morning to photograph this great bird. This was my first attempt at capturing any type of bird in flight. I know, there's a lot of room for improvement.

#2

#3

#4. A whole lot easier to photograph when standing still.

Dude, I don't even mess with living creatures -- so these look pretty good to me, I like the 1st and last.

I admire the patience, dedication and skills that wildlife photographers possess (..and that I don't ).
A fine attempt, especially as it's your first time! The weakest might be #3 and that's only because the wings are a bit too close to the edge of the frame.
Good job, D.J.!

I know these are not easy to capture in flight! Like the comp in #1. Nice position of the wings and nice eye contact.

DJ, for your fist time out to capture flight shots, I think you did a fine job! Last year, I used to go out at least twice a month to photograph Cormorants at a local park because they fly all the time and are really fast...thus, a lot of practice! I agree with Dan about the first one being the best comp and John is right about the wings being too close in the other frame. Not sure what lens and setting you used, but I always shoot flight shots with center point only auto-focus. If you are using all auto-focus points, many times, your camera has a tendancy to auto-focus on the wing tips leaving the ehad soft. Hope that heps and looking forward to seeing more from you!

Those are fine first attempts, DJ. The others have covered the important aspects for improvement, and there are some sharpening artifacts haloing the bird in the flight shots, so a little clean up there also. I won't give much advice as I'm with Paul and John in that I don't shoot critters very often, so I'm not really qualified. I'm sure Dan W. will chime in with Kurt on how to get great shots of these birds.

Thanks everyone for the comments; they are greatly appreciated. These were shot with a 40D, 70-200 f/2.8 IS and a 1.4 extender. Bigger glass is going in my wish list.

I prefer shooting scenes that are static or wildlife moving somewhat slow: ducks and geese swimming in water or deer and elk while eating or grooming. Thought it was time to step out of the "comfort zone". I will be attempting this again. Practice, practice, practice.

Kurt, now that I think about it, I was using all auto-focus points. I will certainly use the center point only next time out.

Morris, I didn't notice the sharpening artifacts until you mentioned them. Had I seen them before posting I certainly would have addressed the problem.

Those things always look like they should be completely unstable to fly. I think you've done a fine job for a first try.