A Soaring Bufflehead!

[dankearl]

I have a hundred flight photos of them, and this is the only one where it looks like a normal bird in flight.
The "soaring" lasts about a millisecond.
The wingspan is pretty wide for a Duck that is 6 inches long.

1/5000, f7.1, iso1000, 300 f2.8 w/ 2x TC, D800, Handheld

DSC_4424bpn2.jpg

[Gary Esman]

I am impressed these guys are rockets, let alone straight on! Remarkable image.

Gary.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Dan - nice and sharp and great coming right at you pov. Well done!

TFS,
Rachel

[Robert Holguin]

Superb shot!!
Sharp,I really like the angle of the duck along with the wing position.
Very well done.

[Mike Milicia]

Very cool perspective ... love the way he looks suspended in the air!

[dankearl]

Gary,
straight on is about the only way to photograph them.
I am working on side on photos, but it is like trying to photograph hummingbirds flying by.
It takes 1/5000 to really freeze them, I can freeze hummingbird wings at lower SS than that.
Thanks for the complement.

[Frank Schauf]

Nice flight pose, good capture.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Wow I didn't realize they were so tiny, now I can truly imaging just how fast these little chaps can be. You did extremely well to capture the pose and the DOF is excellent.

[gail bisson]

Wow Dan,
You really did well with this!I like the eye and the slight head turn.
These guys are like bullets and you got him tack sharp in the frame!
Well done,
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

Another impossibly good bufflehead from you, Dan, how the heck do you do it? Do you use single point focus when they are headed at you?
I don't think I've ever even seen that "soaring" pose, it must happen in the blink of my eye!

[dankearl]

Thanks for the comments.
Melissa, I use 9 points packed in the center, I might try single point, I never really have.
I just take a lot of photos of them as I have really good access, a local duck pond 5 minutes from my house.
I have spent so much time watching them that I can tell almost exactly when they are going to fly by their actions.
You also have to shoot at least 1/4000 to get them in focus.
I also shoot the males 2 stops underexposed, the females less.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, love the head on capture, and the curve of the wings even more. Great 3D effect, as any moment he could be popping out the screen. Your fast ss has frozen him nicely. Well captured.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks for the info, Dan!