Gyrfalcon Hunting

[Raymond Lee]

A follow-up to the hunting action posted in this thread (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/118154-Gyrfalcon-Hunting). The shot was taken 2 frames (2/8th seconds) later. The frame before was when the Gyrfalcon grabbed a pigeon, but then the Gyr was covered up by the passing-by pigeons.

138481

Alberta Terminals Ltd., Edmonton, AB, Canada.

Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS + Kenko 1.4x Teleplus PRO 300 DGX + Canon Extender EF 1.4x II.
Manual mode, 1/3200 sec., f/7.1, ISO 800, handheld

The original image doesn't have too much room on the left. I added canvas on the left to place the Gyrfalcon on the right-third of the frame. Most of the pigeons already disappeared to outside of the frame. Two pigeons remained in the frame near the Gyr. One pigeon was clipped at the bottom of the frame and I cropped in to remove that clipped pigeon. Ideally, it would be nice that all the pigeons had left the frame, but it's hard to control that scenario. I think I can see a possibility of removing those two pigeons in my next edit.

All C&Cs are welcome!

Thanks,
Raymond

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm glad the pigeons remained in the frame, I just wish there was a bit more separation between them and the gyrfalcon. The wings and tail positions are perfect. I bet your heart was racing pretty fast when you witnessed this action!

[Jim Crosswell]

Great action Raymond! I like the flying feathers and sharpness.

[dankearl]

I like the action and the sharpness, but I want to see it a bit more close up.

[Iain Barker]

Another fantastic moment captured. I prefer your first image to this one as I think it showed the action better and I preferred the lighting on the falcon on that one.
I'm not sure it needed as much empty space adding.

You have a nice series of pictures here. Well done.
Iain

[gail bisson]

Pretty intense series. The trailing feathers are wonderful.
Excellent job capturing this. I do wish that the rear pigeon didn't merge with the gyrfalcon. I would clone out that pigeon in a heartbeat. It would make the image much more powerful,
Gail

[Jonathan Ashton]

Congratulations you did extremely well to catch this amazing action.

[Richard Unsworth]

Top Wild Action perfectly captured, flying feathers add some but its already a dramatic scene