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Thread: Common Nighthawk Flight

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    Lifetime Member Jim Neiger's Avatar
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    Default Common Nighthawk Flight

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    Southern Idaho - 1D4, 500mm, 1/3200, F4, hand held, manual exposure
    Jim Neiger - Kissimmee, Florida

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Nice to see you posting, Jim. Now this is a tough bird to get in flight!!! The wings up pose is terrific and the bird really fits right in with the BG environment.
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    Astounding! I've only ever seen these in the gloaming hours, darting hither and thither well above my head! You sure got those wingbars, man o man. Nice background, too. If I were you I'd be patting myself on the back right about now...

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    Lifetime Member Jim Neiger's Avatar
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    Thanks Jack! I was pretty happy when I made this image. Common Nighthawk in flight is a fairly easy image to get, but what makes this shot very difficult to get is the varied background. I have hundreds of Nighthawk flight photos, but only a handfull of them have varied, non-sky bgs.
    Jim Neiger - Kissimmee, Florida

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    I haven't seen your great flight shot for ages, Jim. Great shot as always.

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    Love your nighthawk. I have never gotten one in flight that was bigger than a speck in the sky. I don't think they are easy to get but then I cannot hand hold a 500mm lens. Great background too.

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    Really cool bird and superb light. Not easy to get these guys in flight.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Love the wings up pose and the nice BKGR. It looks as if there is a tiny bit of motion blur on the face; perhaps a bit of selective sharpening there would help.

    Have you posted any raptors from the trip?
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    Beautiful flight shot. For me, they are difficult to get in flight...they move much faster than I do! The varied background is a nice change from the usual blue sky.

  10. #10
    Roman Kurywczak
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    great wing position Jim! The varied BG is cool but I think I would prefer the clean sky......so will have to drop by your sit eand check them out!

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    Lifetime Member Jim Neiger's Avatar
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    Artie,

    I think it looks that way because the nighthawks faces are wierd and appear that way in most of the images I have of them, even perched birds. I had 1/3200 ss and was panning with the bird, so I think motion blur is unlikely. I posted a Praire Falcon a while back.
    Jim Neiger - Kissimmee, Florida

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    Lifetime Member Jim Neiger's Avatar
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    Thanks Roman. I don't think I have very many on my site. If you look thru my posts here you will find a few on sky bgs. Here is a link to one of them:http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...mmon-Nighthawk
    Jim Neiger - Kissimmee, Florida

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    Lifetime Member Jim Neiger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Libbe View Post
    Beautiful flight shot. For me, they are difficult to get in flight...they move much faster than I do! The varied background is a nice change from the usual blue sky.
    If you shoot handheld you should be able to keep up with them as long as you use a long FL and the bird isn't too close. The closer you are to the bird, the faster thier speed is relative to you, so with a shorter FL you need to move much faster. This doesn't apply if the birds are coing right at you, but does if they are moving parallel to your motion.
    Jim Neiger - Kissimmee, Florida

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    Terrific flight shot Jim. It looks very hard species to shot in flight as I compare it with our Nightjars. TFS

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    very cool image Jim! haven't seen many flight shot of these in day light
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Neiger View Post
    If you shoot handheld you should be able to keep up with them as long as you use a long FL and the bird isn't too close.
    Thanks, Jim. I have a 500mm, but I need to improve my HH skills. I've only had it for about 6 months and I don't have the hang of HH flight shots yet.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Libbe View Post
    Thanks, Jim. I have a 500mm, but I need to improve my HH skills. I've only had it for about 6 months and I don't have the hang of HH flight shots yet.
    Hi Michael, Jim leads several hand holding workshops each year; they are quite good. I have been trying to get him to finish the Flight Photography Guide he has been working on for about four years not but I am not having much luck .
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    Lifetime Member Jim Neiger's Avatar
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    Artie,

    I am sitting here working on it as we speak. I have been working on it during this offseason and have completed the first draft of about 80% of the book.
    Jim Neiger - Kissimmee, Florida

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Neiger View Post
    Artie, I am sitting here working on it as we speak. I have been working on it during this offseason and have completed the first draft of about 80% of the book.
    Good news. The boys and girls are chomping at the bit.
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    What a stunning image of this Nighthawk. Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it.
    Good to hear you're working on the book. I for one would be very interested in that Flight Photography Guide!

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    Like Jack, I've only seen them at dusk...must be the "Sunshine State"!! Do these guys respond to call, or do you toss them mosquitos? Anyhow, awesome image here and I really dig the BG.

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    Lifetime Member Jim Neiger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Cadieux View Post
    Like Jack, I've only seen them at dusk...must be the "Sunshine State"!! Do these guys respond to call, or do you toss them mosquitos? Anyhow, awesome image here and I really dig the BG.
    They are often hunting at dusk or after dark, but they also hunt during the day. The thing that drives it are the insects they eat. I have photographed them in strong daylight in three different states, not just Florida. The image above was made in Idaho. They also respond quite well to the Common Nighthawk call.
    Jim Neiger - Kissimmee, Florida

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