Lesser Nighthawk

[Alan Murphy]

Lesser Nighthawk

SE Arizona

D800, 300/2.8, ISO 640, f4, 1/250, Flash at full power.

This was a new species for me and became the 550th North American species photographed. I used a Fenix pd32 flashlight tucked into the lenscoat cover on my lens hood. The nighthawks were hunting at an intersection catching moths around the traffic lights. When one would come close, I would raise my lens putting the flashlight beam on the bird and allowing me to auto focus as I tracked the bird. The red eye was adjusted in PhotoShop. Thanks for taking a look.

[shane shacaluga]

Amazing shot Alan. How do you stop the action at 1/250?

Are you controlling the burst of light from your flash or some other technique?

[Alan Murphy]

Shane,

The flash was used as main light. The duration of the flash froze the action. The camera's shutter speed was only to sync with the flash. Thank you.

[vishaljadhav]

lovely image Alan
we get the nightjar in India but i am not sure i have ever imagined clicking it in the night, many images are of it sitting on the ground
this one is special for the technique and more special due to it clicked in the night, IQ looks fantastic
great image and congrats on the 550

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Stunning would be an understatement Alan! This is just brilliant! Great work Sir!

[David Salem]

Great job getting this unique and beautiful frame.

[Bill Dix]

Amazing. What a great technique, brilliantly executed.

[Doug Brown]

BIF in total darkness??? :cheers:

[Steve Large]

Hi Alan,
Great detail on this image. Sometimes it takes special technique to "get the shot". Nice improvisation on the light source. Hope you have a great time next month at Lac La Jeune. Stopped by there on a birding trip to the Kamloops area this week.

Steve

[John Robinson]

Well done
Tried the same thing on shearwaters years ago but didn't (didn@t) work
Cheers
JohnR

[Daniel Cadieux]

A nifty "why didn't I think of that" lighting idea! Worked to perfect, just a tremendous image :-)

[Ivan Ellison]

Stunning to catch this bird in darkness in this way. Clever technique which I will add to my bag of tricks learnt rom this forum.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent technics and great result, Alan.

[Robert Kimbrell]

A great Idea. and amazing shot, tfs.

[christopher galeski]

magic image,great technique,nice flight pose.

[Troy Lim]

well executed, love it

[Richard Flack]

Wowsers! Well done Allan, that is awesome!

[Binu John]

Wonderful shot, Alan! Brilliant technique and perfect exposure!

[mohammad reza shahab]

wow,Amazing shot Alan.