Red Grouse at Sunrise

Canon 1DX
f/4 500mm with 1.4
f/7.1
1/1600
ISO 1250

I took an early trip to a Glen in Perthshire this morning. I arrived at the Glen, where I know the Red Grouse hang out, and whilst it was still dark, got myself hidden amongst the heather. I waited, but nothing was happening. But, about 30 mins after the sun came up, this Red Grouse popped its head up out of the heather and started calling. I managed to get a few shots. It turned out to be a good day, as I got a few more of different Red Grouse, throughout the day.

Will

Beautiful work Will, with great light and calling pose. Feather detail is superb and background excellent. No nits from me on this one. Nice job!

It certainly was a good day Will - great shot idyllic background, you put in the effort and reaped the reward.

Lovely portrait, Will. Beautiful colors, wonderful background. If mine I would try lowering the highlights and contrast a tad. Thank you for sharing.

I really like this. Such a cool calling pose. Perfect background. Crazy how close you were able to get to this bird.

Lovely pose detail and great colors on the bird and the BG. Love the bit of red above the eye too. Nice open mouth pose too. TFS

A perfect BG for this bird Will--you have a master's eye for getting good BGs. I enjoyed your description of what it took to get this shot. It's that kind of love for the environment and the experience of being in it that makes getting an image like this so satisfying. Did you use a blind or camo poncho/ghillie suit? I like the bright punch of colours in this image, although I'm sure it would have an equally appealing presentation if it was somewhat more subdued as suggested by Joe.

Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. Hi Bob, thanks for that. I was sitting in a small dip amongst the heather, with a cam net draped over me. Quite an experience actually. It was very quiet and all I could hear was the grouse calling throughout the glen, just got lucky I suppose, that this one was as near as it was. I have a few more images of grouse, which I captured whilst walking through the glen, which I will post in due course. I can see what Joe and yourself, are meaning about the contrast, but I reckon this was as close as what I saw, because of the light at the time.

Will

Will, I don't have anything of value to add...but I just had to say that I love everything about this image. The approach, the colors, the light, the BG, the detail, the action...just beautiful.

Hi Will, excellent calling pose, and this is really nice and sharp. Always great to capture our subjects in soft light as you have, and the colour of the BG complements the Grouse perfectly.

Will a stunning image of this iconic bird just beautiful I wouldn't change a thing



stu