Gyrfalcon Flight Dive

Attachment 124777

Another raptor that likes to hunt the pigeons at our local grain terminal. This Gyrfalcon was in the middle of a dive attempting to grab a pigeon in mid-air, but missed. However, within 20 seconds or so, it caught a pigeon, and I missed the capture as the action was too close to where I was standing.

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, 1/2000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 640

All C&Cs are welcome!

Thanks,
Raymond

This is remarkable image quality especially for stacked TC's. Sits in the frame very well, great detail especially in the plumage patterns, a subtle blue sky to top it all off as well. I have a lot of trouble trying to focus my 7D on my 500 f4 with 1.4 x TC attached, very slow to react ?

Wow! I like the angle you caught with this one. It is nice to see a bird in flight from above. Great IQ. Would love to see the pigeon being caught.

very nice topside view! good eye contact. I would crop it tighter if the IQ holds.

Amazing IQ for stacked teles!
I love the topside view and the head turn.
I see a bit of a sharpening halo around bottom wing-easy fix for you.
Would love to see this bird IRL someday.
Well done,
Gail

pretty cool pose and nice detail

Lovely dorsal look of a bird we don't see posted too often. Well captured.

Wonderful top view of the raptor, its always difficult to get a top view in flight , very nicely done
the eye contact is also good
lovely

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gail bisson

Amazing IQ for stacked teles!
I love the topside view and the head turn.
I see a bit of a sharpening halo around bottom wing-easy fix for you.
Would love to see this bird IRL someday.
Well done,
Gail

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Hi Gail, I didn't notice the sharpening halo, but I touched up both wing edges anyway by cloning from the sky at about 10% flow. I also cropped it slightly tighter as per Arash's suggestion.

Attachment 124794

Let me know if this is better.

Thanks,
Raymond

Great find and great view of the top of the raptor's plumage!! Good comp. I only wish the face was a little sharper as posted.

Great job, Raymond. I can only imagine how fast this guy was diving. Pretty remarkable for stacked IQs. Just love that topside view.

Thanks everyone!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daniel Cadieux

Great find and great view of the top of the raptor's plumage!! Good comp. I only wish the face was a little sharper as posted.

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Thanks Daniel! I think the head looks sharp to me, but yeah the cheek can have a tiny more sharpness. I think my focus landed mostly on the back behind the head.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Melissa Groo

Great job, Raymond. I can only imagine how fast this guy was diving. Pretty remarkable for stacked IQs. Just love that topside view.

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Thanks! As mentioned in previous threads, stacking with a Kenko 1.4x TC with a Canon 1.4x II gets me faster AF speed (as fast as just a single Canon 1.4x II) than the Canon 2x TC with fairly equal image quality. Just too bad, from what I heard, that the TC stacking does not work with the new Canon 1.4x TC III.

Nice shot of this Gyr. Like the top side view showing off the feather pattern. Exposure looks good and the details look good too. I like the tighter crop also. Pretty cool stacking telies. Well done.

Great top view flight shot with nice eye contact. This is a great bird tyo get at shot of and you did a nice job, Raymond. Good info on the extenders.

I like the top view, exposure and composition. I agree with Daniels sharpness comment. Nice image Raymond.

Magnificent top side view showing great feathers details,nice angle,HA and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

Love the re-edit Raymond, a great dorsal shot of this wonderful falcon.