Red Grouse

Thanks for the previous comments & feedback.

Had a potter out to a new location on Tuesday, sadly the light was poor in the early part of the morning so had to contend with late morning, not great, but! Most were hunkering down keeping a good distance, but found a pair feeding around one of the gun butts which was situated on slight slope, so the angle is not ideal, (shooting down), however they did stay for a few frames. The heather in this part is on the turn, but the environment is enough to show how well suited they are in this habitat.

Steve
Subject: Red Grouse in late heather (Lagopus lagopus)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500f/4 plus 1.4x HH
Exposure: 1/200s at f/8 ISO200 -0.33 stop compensation
Crop: Slight crop (original capture vertical)

A really nice portrait (if a bit full in the frame). I'm not so keen on the busy oof 'heather highlights' behind the bird as I find them quite distracting. Obviously the lighting was quite strong so I doubt if you could have done much with them even if you were shooting with a larger aperture.

The angle does not look too bad to me, Steve, although I have to agree with Robert that it is a little large in the frame. Still a splendid shot, and I especially like the way you have retained the detail in the feathers on the feet.

David

I can see Roberts point about the highlights and size in the frame but none the less it is a fine shot

Bob

Very nice portrait Steve and the head turn with eye contact is spot on. As you say your POV was not ideal so little could be done with the BG. I do not mind BIF if there is lots of detail to be seen and there is lots on this image!

Nick.

Thanks folks

Hi Robert, in answer to your feedback, the 1DX is a FF camera, where as I'm used to a crop factor in all my previous Pro bodies I've had, so knowing that this subject can be a little distance away I did add the 1.4x to give added reach, however in this instance the bird is a fraction BIF, but in other shots where the extender was removed it's about right, plus shot in landscape format. In addition, shooting wider ie f/5.6 really did not do much more to the BKG as it was to close to the subject, however it's always good to have a variety of settings to chose from. Late morning is, as i said not the preferred time of day to shoot for obvious reasons, however it was worth nailing some shots before these guys become a trophy on someones dinner plate.

Thanks again.

cheers
Steve

Other than the very slight nit re the subject size in the frame, I can't really fault it, Steve. How are you finding the 1DX ?

Andy...

Hi Andy, well from owning the MKII, III, & IV bodies it's probably the best camera body I have had, although the crop factor would be good. After 3 months (one month testing), I love it, although it does take time to set things up, plus getting used to the various options. The biggest factor is ISO & colour, very little tweaks to the file in terms of colour, but the ISO opens up far more in terms of what you can shoot, a bit like owning a Nikon, but nicer, LOL. I was shooting some commission stuff stuff last Tuesday towards the end of the day, ISO 2500.Just printed it up yesterday & despatched, looks like ISO200. It's a big jump in many respects, but... Now shooting with the MKIV & 1DX and I get the best of both worlds.

If you were thinking of upgrading the 5DMKIII is good, although I have never used it, a lot of folk I know really like it.

Cheers
Steve

Great photo Steve. BIF is not a problem IMHO, the detail is superb. I wish I could afford a 1DX, the high ISO looks superb. The new 6D spec looks good, interested to see its ISO performance. Its also a bit more in my price range!

Paul, just sent you some info, bedtime reading perhaps?

Thanks Steve!

Ive heard a lot of good things about the 1DX...this is probably not your best shot though. However I do like the inclusion of the fluffy white legs of the bird as normally you dont get to see these.

Ian

Yep, you quite correct Ian, in both comments.

All I want to do now is get my hands on one of those 200-400 that were floating around the Canon Olympic store.

I like this shot although the bird is a bit large in the frame for my taste. It shows the bird in its natural habitat.