Take Off

[joebranko]

Caught this Blue Heron just as he took off from Cootes Paradise. Have not caught another one since...
f 10, ISO 200, 200mm, 1/500". C&C welcome.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[joebranko]

Nicely done.

-Thanks John.

[Brownbear]

Nice effort! Lovely light, background and beautiful capture of the moment and the wing position.

I wonder if your camera grabbed focus on the tail feathers instead of the heron's head? I find it very helpful to use a faster shutter speed say 1/1000 second for capturing birds in flight.

[joebranko]

Nice effort! Lovely light, background and beautiful capture of the moment and the wing position.

I wonder if your camera grabbed focus on the tail feathers instead of the heron's head? I find it very helpful to use a faster shutter speed say 1/1000 second for capturing birds in flight.

Thanks Christina;
The tail does look in sharper focus, doesn't it? I don't think I has my camera set up for multiple exposures, so I just got the one shot of the take off.

[jcuknz]

Just to be fussy with a great shot like that I would increase canvas size on left and bottom and clone across adjacent material to fill it. Select out the neck and head and sharpen. Maybe clone out vegetation bottom left while you are about it

[Brownbear]

Very well done, especially with your camera. Yes, I'm not sure of the focus but it is hard to be certain when viewing a smaller size. Does your camera have an continuous auto focus mode? If yes, it makes photographing birds in flight a little easier.

Thanks Christina;
The tail does look in sharper focus, doesn't it? I don't think I has my camera set up for multiple exposures, so I just got the one shot of the take off.

[Rebel]

Just to be fussy with a great shot like that I would increase canvas size on left and bottom and clone across adjacent material to fill it. Select out the neck and head and sharpen. Maybe clone out vegetation bottom left while you are about it

+1 to this comment.

[chauncey]

Like as been said, raise that SS and drop the f/stop. Be aware however, capturing birds in
flight can become addictive, leading to needing longer glass (as in spending more money).

[Texas Dave]

Really cool capture.

How do you have your focus point set up? Single focus I'd assume. Did you shoot a burst?

Reason I ask, I have a place to photograph birds and I fully understand how hard it is to get a shot like this! Timing, timing and LUCK! I've gone to single focus and burst mode but still, trying to pin point a bird's head with a giant body is tough to do.

[chauncey]

David, a lot of it revolves around getting to know your gear and learning how it's auto focus functions,
the number of points/how it tracks/etc.

Running a quick search gives ya this to start with. http://www.bing.com/search?q=learnin...085db0d7d9f77d

[joebranko]

Like as been said, raise that SS and drop the f/stop. Be aware however, capturing birds in
flight can become addictive, leading to needing longer glass (as in spending more money).

Thanks wm!

[joebranko]

Really cool capture.

How do you have your focus point set up? Single focus I'd assume. Did you shoot a burst?

Reason I ask, I have a place to photograph birds and I fully understand how hard it is to get a shot like this! Timing, timing and LUCK! I've gone to single focus and burst mode but still, trying to pin point a bird's head with a giant body is tough to do.

Single focus. But I was not in burst mode.

[Texas Dave]

Single focus. But I was not in burst mode.

Are you doing the back button focus thing with AF continuous?

[joebranko]

Just to be fussy with a great shot like that I would increase canvas size on left and bottom and clone across adjacent material to fill it. Select out the neck and head and sharpen. Maybe clone out vegetation bottom left while you are about it

Am looking into this. I have never increased canvass size before and don't know if Lightroom supports this. Time for Google!

[Wavelength]

Very nice... many informative comments have been given by experts here...
Regards

[joebranko]

Thanks everyone for all your comments. They were very helpful. Much appreciated!