More Purple Martin Fun - With A Dragon

[Daniel Cadieux]

A bit slow photography-wise for me these last couple of weeks so I have just been processing some converted raw files that hadn't yet been finalized.

Yet another Purple Martin in flight...most of the images that had large prey items had the eyes covered, and the few ones that didn't were either OOF or featured cut wings (Murphy's Law of course!!) but this one had both a clear eye and a sharp and full body within the frame.

Can't wait to try my luck on these guys next year again!!

Canon 7D + 100-400L @350mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1600s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, cropped for compostion and added some canvas at right, darked the pupil via burn tool and lightened the belly via dodge tool.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Top notch Dan, great pose super sharpness and the dragonfly really makes the shot, well done.

[James Salywoda]

Superb Daniel ! I love the pose and sharpness and the Dragonfly really take it up to the top really well captured...:S3:

[Linda Dulak]

Well done! Love the dragonfly! I can''t wait until the martins are back in town to try my luck with them again.

Linda

[Kiran Poonacha]

Nicely done DC, the HA with that pose makes this work very well... :cheers:

[Dumay de Boulle]

Just to get this in the frame takes some doing and you have done exceptionally well...Nice and sharp and the catch is a huge plus...Very nice!

[Marina Scarr]

To get this in the frame and sharp with the 100-400 is amazing!! I guess i"ll have to give my 100-400 another whirl for flight shots . Love the inclusion of the dragonfly.

You shouldn't be out of subjects for long. I hear there is an owl eruption coming your way!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great job getting this and nice that it is facing the viewer as well. Looks pretty sharp too.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Besides the real challenge of getting these guys in the frame at any degree of magnification, without chopping off various parts, and great DOF front to rear, the dragonfly is the cherry on top!

I will have to revisit my local nesting area and give it another go. I have to say I have had some of my lowest yields of keeper images when trying to work these guys!

Cheers

Randy

[Andrew Merwin]

An outstanding image. TFS. I like seeing what can be captured with patience & practice.

[Raul Padilla]

great moment, good photo of this complicated situation, not easy work with the intense blue in the back

[Doug Brown]

<embed id="application/x-exifeverywhere" type="application/x-exifeverywhere" width="0" height="0">I love how clear and unobstructed the eye is. Excellent sharpness. And the dragonfly is the icing on the cake.

[ramesh anantharaman]

I just love the way you have frozen this guy. Superb. Everything looks real good to me in this frame.