Bufflehead hen

[Isaac Grant]

From my last trip to Barnegat. There were about 20 females hanging out at the jetty and not a single male. Winds were very strong as was the tide. The birds were drifting out of the inlet towards the end of the jetty and then flying back down the jetty and into the wind. That helped slow down these little speedsters enough where I was able to get a few good passes. Still required very high shutter speed to freeze the action. Taken in late evening light. As a long time Canon user, I can say that the combination of the D850 and the 500 PF makes shooting these types of shots so much easier than I was used to. The 600 is just bigger and heavier and in the wind it acts like a sail. This is my go to combo now for flight work, unless the subjects are really far.
Nikon D850 and Nikon 500mm PF. ISO 1000, F6.3, SS 1/5000

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful Capture. Excellent wing position and Head Angle.

Background look good as well. I am tempted to remove the water droplet near the eye.


TFS

[Dorian Anderson]

This is great. Nice and high off the water to get great subject isolation. Detail is perfect and head tilt is spot on. Excellent.

[gail bisson]

This is superb Isaac. Over the top good with that slight head tilt towards us.
IQ is excellent and the wing position is my favorite.
These gals are really fast so kudos on getting her so tack sharp.
Well done,
Gail

[Ivan Sjogren]

Top noch!Can't find anything to fault. The wing position is perfect, the head angle takes it to another level and the BG is super pretty. Must have been a difficult image to get so well done!

[Mike Poole]

You nailed this one Isaac, perfect downstroke and the little head turn really helps

Mike

[Bill Dix]

Excellent work! Detail is exquisite and the head turn puts it over the top. I would have used just a tad more NR on the bg, but I say this knowing that I used too much on a recent post from the same location, and you noted that the water looked plastic. Somewhere in between?

[annmpacheco]

Rock star Isaac!!! Absolutely perfecto, superb shooting and processing. Love the wee head tilt and the eye looking at you. Happy to see you posting as well.

[David Salem]

Your BEST flight image by far, and one of, if not THE, best IF of a hen Buffie I have ever seen!! Besides that, I like it :). Keep em coming Jackson!

[William Dickson]

Looking real good....Absolutely no nits....Perfect exposure, light, detail, flight pose, HA, POV and BG...Well done Isaac.

Will

[John Mack]

Nailed it. The slight head turn towards you is great. Really like that blue water background.

[Alex Becker]

Really nice. Awesome details, pose, exposure, and background. The head turn takes it way over the top. Would love a shot of these guys like this. TFS

[Arthur Morris]

This would have been much better with Canon gear :) Not!!!

Killer perfect.

with love, artie

[Isaac Grant]

The real key here for me is the 500 PF. Great little lens and so much easier to hand hold than the 600, especially in strong wind. When you combine that with the resolution of the D850, Canon has nothing to compare. Not even close really. To be fair, Nikon currently can not touch the 600 iii which is much easier to hand hold than the version ii. However if the camera taking the shot does not have the same resolution and autofocus then it does not matter about the lens. That is ultimately what got me to switch systems and I am super happy that I did. Now how would Sony have done here :Whoa!:

[Isaac Grant]

Hey Bill the NR may be an issue with the screen we are viewing it on. The water looks just right on my screen but I don't doubt for a second what you are seeing.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Issac, you got the down stroke, and perfectly parallel to the back of the camera. sharp and clean. the 500PF is an excellent lens for close range shots like this one. Canon also had the 400 DOII which was plenty light and sharp but ultimately the inconsistencies in AF let it down.

[Debapratim Saha]

Killer image! Congrats Isaac!