Hawks in flight and perched, 3rd shoot with 500 f4

[FlyingSquirrel]

I was finally able to get out with the 500 again, for only the 3rd shoot since its arrival a number of weeks ago. Even a week between shoots feels like ages, when you have a lens like this. The short daylight in winter makes the weekend my only option for shooting, and dreary weather can really put a damper on things. When I do get out, though, I go sunrise to sunset, to get the most of my time and effort.

I am working hard at my biggest challenge, which is to find excellent locations for wildlife shooting. Sounds easy, but it really isn't, when you are looking for close proximity to said wildlife, and clean backgrounds, and proper light angles, and so forth. So I'm scouting new locations, talking to people, networking, etc. I tried a new place Saturday, was pretty nice but quite slow all day. A birder told me it was a bad day for the location, so I should come back again and might have better luck.

I did have a few brief opportunities to practice shooting some BIF's, which I haven't done with the 500 yet (and in the past tried a bit with my 400 with poor results). A few harriers flew by throughout the day, hunting. It was not easy, considering I have little BIF experience, I am still getting used to the 500, and the harriers are somewhat erratic in flight when hunting. Nevertheless I did my best, and below are the results.

All of the shots are cropped much more than I would prefer. Not much you can do when the subject is far away, even with the 500. People look at the size of the lens, and can't believe that I can't "zoom in" on a bird 100 feet away, LOL. One guy was quite shocked and exclaimed that his "regular camera" could do better. He was, of course, the same fellow who, when I told him I was waiting for a Harrier to fly by, thought I was trying to photograph a jet .

Anyway, the shots are not nearly the quality that I expect of myself. However, I am very happy with them because I know it is a learning process and I am new to this, and also that I will get plenty of opportunities to practice, improve, and there will be closer subjects which will allow me to get what I want.

Prior to perching on the tree roots, the harrier had flown by while I was eating a snack, but went behind some trees. When I got up to photograph some other bird, I noticed the harrier on the stump around the corner; apparently it had landed right there the whole time. I shot some frames, then decided to try the 1.4 extender for the first time. As I was trying to attach it, the bird promptly flew away

As I was leaving around sunset, I captured a few shots of the bird in the tree against the sky. With the 500mm, for subjects that are static, far away, and landscapes, I am using Live View and a wireless shutter release. I zoom in on live view to 10x and manually focus the lens, then wait for the rig to stabilize before triggering the shutter. The Live View, inherently implements mirror lockup, so it is the perfect combination of benefits to allow precision focusing accuracy and razor sharp photos. That is what I used for the sunset photo. However, it is cropped quite a bit anyway.

Thanks for looking, reading, and C&C

Harrier in flight, eye contact


Harrier in flight, hunting


Harrier perched


Falcon, sentinel of the sunset

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[deetheturk]

Hi Matt,great images,looks to me that you are getting there,well done and keep at it!

Cheers David

[Marie Hass]

This is a very nice set. I especially like #'s 2,3,4. 2 - I can see the intensity in the harrrier's eyes as it hunts. 3 - I love the feather detail. #4 -The silhouette against the sunset is really pretty.

Marie

[FrankMi]

It looks like you are getting increasingly better results with the new glass Matt! I'm looking forward to seeing many more as you hone your BiF skills!

[Brownbear]

Hi Matt,

Wonderful! I especially adore the dreamy backgrounds (which you always manage) and the eye contact in the first, the position of the Harrier in the 2nd image.

And I think the 3rd image is breathtakingly beautiful!

[terrib]

Matt, I like all of these shots. I always like your narratives. On reading this one and your "not much you can do" "not nearly the quality", etc, I was prepared for fuzzy, grainy, bad images and then scrolled down to see these beautiful shots. If you hadn't said "I am very happy with them" (even though you qualified that) I'd have really been mad at you.

The third one is especially nice. I don't know what other stuff was in the frame but I think seeing more of the environment in that one with less of a crop would also be a nice image. Not necessarily better, but also nice.

[Rita]

Awesome series. I really like the intensity in the eyes.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Thank you everyone! I appreciate the comments and feedback. Looking forward to sharing more shots as I get them. Happy New Year to all!

[Mike Buckley]

the shots are not nearly the quality that I expect of myself. However, I am very happy with them because I know it is a learning process and I am new to this, and also that I will get plenty of opportunities to practice, improve,

What a great attitude! Happy New Year, Matt!

[FlyingSquirrel]

What a great attitude! Happy New Year, Matt!

Thanks, Mike, to you as well!

[NorthernFocus]

Nice set of shots, Matt. The first harrier is really good, the second is the more common angle of a harrier, and the third is more like the way I always see them when within camera range, i.e. sitting on something Great eye to see the opportunity for the sunset shot. Nicely done.

[Benjy]

Well done Matt

[PRSearls]

Hi Matt,

Congrats on a terrific piece of glass! You'll really enjoy it. Your first image is my favorite. The 500 can really resolve fine detail which really shows off eyes and plumage. The 1.4 extender works very well when you need a little extra reach and have enough light. I'm shooting with an old 1Ds Mark 3 so I can't crank up the ISO like on newer bodies but still get some good keepers. Happy shooting.

Paul S

[FlyingSquirrel]

Thanks Dan, Bernard, and Paul. Appreciate the comments.