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Image was taken at a wetlands location near my home. This is an all-natural image, no set-up, no feeding or baiting.
After skinning the snake a bit, this female(?) harrier took off. This is the first frame out of 3 that I hit (parallel to me). The 7D can focus on demand.
I heard the snake shout "Help meeee! "
EOS 7D, 400 f/5,6 @ 5.6, ISO 400.
Thanks for looking, enjoy the moment.
Kiran
lovely image with great wing pose and ofcourse snake in talons
BG looks great here
For me this is too tight , If mine I may add canvas on top , bottom and front of bird and brighten the image a bit
7D seems to be inspiring one :D:D:);)
TFS
Well done capturing the bird and the snake. I do wish the wing had more light to it and I agree with Harshad on the framing.
Nice DOF and of course outstanding behavioral shot. Perhaps a bit of fill flash could have helped on the wings?
Wonderful catch, and having the snake's mouth open adds to it. I'd agree with both adding more canvas and lightening the wings. Well done!
I like the eye contact, and the light on the head and eye. Good to see his catch with open mouth, and I would maybe run some NR on the BG. Well captured Kiran.
Great shot Kiran! So you do notice better AF performance in general on the 7D vs. 20D/40D?
stunning shot.
Thx, all for your comments, glad you loved the picture.
Spiderhunters, I definitely find the AF on the 7D much-much superior to a 20D/30D. This camera's AF is atleast as good as my 1D mk2.
I find that each of my lenses (teles, superteles) needed micro-adjustment with this camera body. Anyone expecting great results straight out of the camera...can dream on. :-)
I never shot flying birds with my 40D (and I love that camera), but this 7D is performing equally well or even better ever since I put it under test. I haven't missed a peak moment ( that can be blamed on the camera). It is living up to my expectations of high ISO, AF, 8fps, 18mp cropping ability hype( and yes, the reduced weight). I personally believe in capturing 1 critical frame/action shot in each session/each subject, and the 7D has done that for me more than once so far in two weeks of me owning it. And, I am not spraying and praying, in the above case, I shot 3 critical frames when the bird came parallel with me, all were sharp.
I do find that the viewfinder blackout time of this camera sucks..compared to the 1D series. Once can easily lose track of the subject if shooting a longer burst. 1D series rocks in that regards.
The beauty of this camera is that there are MANY AF modes to use and at your disposal with a quick 2-click shortcut to switch to. It all depends on what AF mode one chooses for a specific situation. I have seen pics of flying birds taken by some folks with Spot-AF mode...a big No-No (Canon says that too) ! The single Manual AF point is accurate and so is the AF-Expansion. Zone AF is a lifesaver for fast action (including birds) and if you want to make sure the central cluster of 9 picks up the action somewhere on the bird's body and tracks it and gets your money shot.
I would say, take all advice/opinion (with a grain of salt) from the internet experts (including a new birder like me)...and just try the camera for yourself. I bought this camera with a specific purpose in mind and it's living up to my expectations already. Very soon, I will put it to work in the field...so far, these tests have only made me happy about my full retail price purchase :-).
Good thing about this camera is it has converted me into a birder. The ultra light setup of 400 f/5.6 and this camera is priceless. You can carry it all day long and not feel a thing.
Thanks for the Info kiran, great light and action captured here. congrats..
