Red Breasted Nuthatch In Flight Posing as Traffic Cop

This is one of my favorite small bird in flight images. I decided to try and "frac" this. I'm pretty happy with it. The image reminds me of a traffic cop!!

http://www.pbase.com/paddler

Gerry:

Congratulations!

That is one of the best photos I have ever seen of a Nuthatch, see them every day I go up Madera Canyon, however, it is always difficult to get a good photo. Either upside down or flitting from place to place at a mile a minute.

Your creation is Kool, I love it

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Uncle Gus

Gerry, Fantastic pose and frac. work. The BG looks great. It seems a bit tight in the frame, esp. top and right. I would love to have this one in my files. :)

Thanks a ton for your membership support. Can you tell us about the original capture here? And I would love to see the original.

I do love the pose but would like to see a bit more room above the birdie.

Thanks much everyone for the C&C.

I spent part of last summer putting to use Linda Robbins' CD on capturing hummingbirds using a multiflash setup. After a bit, the hummingbirds became ridiculously easy to photograph as they stay in the same spot for a bit while feeding. I then decided to try and capture other birds in flight using Linda's info and that became very difficult! Thank goodness for digital! Linda's CD is an excellent investment for people interested in this type of photography. I learned a ton last summer by experimenting on different backgrounds, where to place the flashes, etc.

Artie asked to see the original. Here is the my first post on my Pbasewebsite
http://www.pbase.com/paddler/image/119055421

I did take the replies to heart and added some canvas to the top. There was no room on the original image so I had to add some canvas to the top. Here is the revised image
http://www.pbase.com/paddler/image/122214082

Thanks again

http://www.pbase.com/paddler

Thanks for the link and the plug for Linda's CD book. The original is really killer good with a great head angle. I am assuming that you pushed the shutter button to create it. Is that correct? (Most folks do the songbirds with a camera trap or Dale beam or the like.

PS: feel free to post the repost and or the ORIG here :)

Hello again Artie,

I wish I could say I had actually triggered the shutter. I don't think I could have done that in my best days and they're long gone! I was using a trigger called the Phototrap. I had emailed you quite a while ago and you suggested a trigger for birds in flight besides hummers. Even with a trigger, it's a good thing we're in the digital age! I'm glad I am doing all this in my backyard because it takes a fair amount of equipment with the stands, flashes, backgrounds, trigger, etc.
Here is the original. The original image was in horizontal position to get the maximum area to photograph using a trigger. I ended up using a vertical crop b/c of the pose. I added some canvas on top
http://www.pbase.com/paddler/image/122214082

Gerry

http://www.pbase.com/paddler

A superb capture, Gerry. And I love the fracting too. KB