BIRD IN FLIGHT ONLY -- share your BIF photos here

Jul 28, 2015
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I'm not the biggest fan of clipping wings but the shots of the female Osprey bringing fresh nesting material back with both wings fully in the frame just seemed 'small'. Since I had kept shooting her as she passed by, I decided to use this one to emphasis just how wide the wingspan is while also keeping the nesting material relevant.
SDR75006-X3.jpg

1 DX MK II : 600 f/4 II w/ 1.4X III 1/3200 : f/7.1 : ISO 1000

I really like the framing. Its different and also balanced in the frame - the eye being on a third helps it.
 
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SteveC

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Sep 3, 2019
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I'm not the biggest fan of clipping wings but the shots of the female Osprey bringing fresh nesting material back with both wings fully in the frame just seemed 'small'. Since I had kept shooting her as she passed by, I decided to use this one to emphasis just how wide the wingspan is while also keeping the nesting material relevant.
SDR75006-X3.jpg

1 DX MK II : 600 f/4 II w/ 1.4X III 1/3200 : f/7.1 : ISO 1000


Like all artistic rules, it can sometimes be broken to great effect, but is best broken by someone who understands the reason for the rule. It calls attention to the left wing (on our right) and does indeed emphasize the wingspan.
 
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ISv

"The equipment that matters, is you"
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Apr 30, 2017
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I got this in the last weekend. Low quality shots. There were two Cattle Egrets flying from right to left no more than 15-20 meters in front of me. One of them looking strange (new species for the science;)). I missed that moment - to busy staring at the unusual bird... Fortunately they made broad turn and come left to right but at ~40m away.
I think some kids have to much free time in this Corona period... Don't believe it was made by adults or without the presence of competent girl in the group:)!
Sorry for the snap shots but I missed the opportunity to get better.


DSC_9695_DxO_DxO.jpg
DSC_9711_DxO_DxO.jpgDSC_9712_DxO_DxO.jpg
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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As I wrote in the Portraits thread, we took the 5DIV and 5DSR +100-400mm IIs with us to the Galapagos. I find the 5DSR + 100-400mm II to be pretty good for BIF as they look on fast and the FF and high resolution allow for easier panning, despite the low fps. Here for amusement are successive shots made into a gif of a Blue-footed Booby diving for fish. I caught him as he turned and his final Hockneyesque "Bigger Splash".

Diving_Blue_footed_Booby.gif
 
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HenryL

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Apr 1, 2020
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Very nice! Were you able to track and did you get many keepers?
Thanks! TBH, the percentage was low, but for now I'll take the blame because it handles soooo much differently than the DSLR's I've been using for almost two decades. I really didn't know what I was doing with it. Still, more options for tracking would be appreciated. Oh...and a bigger buffer.

Wanted something small as a 2nd (3rd?) body, and with the 22mm hanging off it this thing is positively tiny. It's a nice camera, and in it's category I can forgive some lack of robustness as BIF is certainly not it's intended purpose. Still, it's a want and not a need so I may end up returning it and waiting for the recently rumored higher end M-series I saw earlier today.
 
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AlanF

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Thanks! TBH, the percentage was low, but for now I'll take the blame because it handles soooo much differently than the DSLR's I've been using for almost two decades. I really didn't know what I was doing with it. Still, more options for tracking would be appreciated. Oh...and a bigger buffer.

Wanted something small as a 2nd (3rd?) body, and with the 22mm hanging off it this thing is positively tiny. It's a nice camera, and in it's category I can forgive some lack of robustness as BIF is certainly not it's intended purpose. Still, it's a want and not a need so I may end up returning it and waiting for the recently rumored higher end M-series I saw earlier today.
I have an M5 and lots of kit to go with it, and I passed on the M6 II for the 90D. So, I am curious about what I missed.
 
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HenryL

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I have an M5 and lots of kit to go with it, and I passed on the M6 II for the 90D. So, I am curious about what I missed.
So I did find a sequence from this weekend that led up to that image posted above. using a single point 5 out of 13 images were in focus. It was using either spot or single point focus, not the tracking mode. From my vantage point there were too many trees between me and the bird that would confuse the camera along the way in the tracking mode, so I tended to stick with the single point options. This is an earlier grab from that same run. Focus was on the wingtip, but that's on me. Still a usable pic though. Maybe.
M62_0272.jpg
 
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HenryL

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UFC wasn't the only fighting event this past weekend.

So I've been watching a group of nests this spring, one in particular at the state park. I got there early Saturday and oddly this one was empty...all the others were pretty much normal. Scanned the surrounding trees that I know this pair likes to perch in when away from home - nothing. Moved on to the next nest approx 100 yards or so down the road.

I had been shooting with the M6II, my last real chance to test it out as the return period is almost up. Having used it exclusively for the last 3 weeks, I decided to walk back to the car and swap it for the 7DII because, well, I just missed it. About 25 minutes later I was back at the nests, and saw one of the pair was back home. Looked odd, though. Normally they are pretty chill, but this morning the bird was antsy, not still at all and constantly looking skyward. At first I couldn't see what was going on overhead because trees blocked most of the view.

Suddenly the pair in a neighboring nest started calling, then the single bird I was watching did too and stood ready to launch, and I heard a rush of feathers directly overhead and extremely low. It was these two. The lead bird flew off, the one giving chase went to the nest. Wasn't long before the intruder was back and both of these took off after it. One pulled back to a nearby tree, but the other one continued chasing. They went on like this for 30-40 minutes - chase then soar in circles for a bit. I managed to pull one sequence where they were in the open - actually they were screaming through the marsh and I just got damn lucky and got a decent exposure in the harsh late morning sun. Also very fortuitous that I had gone back for the 7DII...no way the M6II would have tracked this.

I'm used to seeing the osprey briefly buzzing eagles as they sit in trees, and eagles stealing fish from the osprey, but never have I witnessed an ongoing battle between two osprey (or any other birds for that matter). Sometimes, despite all our careful study and planning, it comes down to luck. And also a reminder that sometimes the moment we capture is what makes the image, not the technical success or failure of it's components.

7D2_6464_DxO.jpg7D2_6465_DxO.jpg7D2_6466_DxO.jpg7D2_6467_DxO.jpg7D2_6468_DxO.jpg7D2_6469_DxO.jpg7D2_6470_DxO.jpg7D2_6471_DxO.jpg
 
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Valvebounce

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Apr 3, 2013
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Hi Henry.
Wow, what a fabulous series of shots, I think it is a lot of wildlife photographers ambition to capture something like this, or even just see it. I would probably be the one that didn’t manage to get a shot and didn’t see it for trying to get it in frame!:rolleyes:

Cheers, Graham.

UFC wasn't the only fighting event this past weekend.

So I've been watching a group of nests this spring, one in particular at the state park. I got there early Saturday and oddly this one was empty...all the others were pretty much normal. Scanned the surrounding trees that I know this pair likes to perch in when away from home - nothing. Moved on to the next nest approx 100 yards or so down the road.

I had been shooting with the M6II, my last real chance to test it out as the return period is almost up. Having used it exclusively for the last 3 weeks, I decided to walk back to the car and swap it for the 7DII because, well, I just missed it. About 25 minutes later I was back at the nests, and saw one of the pair was back home. Looked odd, though. Normally they are pretty chill, but this morning the bird was antsy, not still at all and constantly looking skyward. At first I couldn't see what was going on overhead because trees blocked most of the view.

Suddenly the pair in a neighboring nest started calling, then the single bird I was watching did too and stood ready to launch, and I heard a rush of feathers directly overhead and extremely low. It was these two. The lead bird flew off, the one giving chase went to the nest. Wasn't long before the intruder was back and both of these took off after it. One pulled back to a nearby tree, but the other one continued chasing. They went on like this for 30-40 minutes - chase then soar in circles for a bit. I managed to pull one sequence where they were in the open - actually they were screaming through the marsh and I just got damn lucky and got a decent exposure in the harsh late morning sun. Also very fortuitous that I had gone back for the 7DII...no way the M6II would have tracked this.

I'm used to seeing the osprey briefly buzzing eagles as they sit in trees, and eagles stealing fish from the osprey, but never have I witnessed an ongoing battle between two osprey (or any other birds for that matter). Sometimes, despite all our careful study and planning, it comes down to luck. And also a reminder that sometimes the moment we capture is what makes the image, not the technical success or failure of it's components.
 
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