Gyrfalcon Flight Dive

[Raymond Lee]

Another raptor that likes to hunt the pigeons at our local grain terminal. This Gyrfalcon was in the middle of a dive attempting to grab a pigeon in mid-air, but missed. However, within 20 seconds or so, it caught a pigeon, and I missed the capture as the action was too close to where I was standing.

Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS + Kenko 1.4x Teleplus PRO 300 DGX + Canon Extender EF 1.4x II
Manual mode, 1/2000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 640

All C&Cs are welcome!

Thanks,
Raymond

[PhilCook]

This is remarkable image quality especially for stacked TC's. Sits in the frame very well, great detail especially in the plumage patterns, a subtle blue sky to top it all off as well. I have a lot of trouble trying to focus my 7D on my 500 f4 with 1.4 x TC attached, very slow to react ?

[Alison McCoy]

Wow! I like the angle you caught with this one. It is nice to see a bird in flight from above. Great IQ. Would love to see the pigeon being caught.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice topside view! good eye contact. I would crop it tighter if the IQ holds.

[gail bisson]

Amazing IQ for stacked teles!
I love the topside view and the head turn.
I see a bit of a sharpening halo around bottom wing-easy fix for you.
Would love to see this bird IRL someday.
Well done,
Gail

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

pretty cool pose and nice detail

[Bill Dix]

Lovely dorsal look of a bird we don't see posted too often. Well captured.

[vishaljadhav]

Wonderful top view of the raptor, its always difficult to get a top view in flight , very nicely done
the eye contact is also good
lovely

[Raymond Lee]

Amazing IQ for stacked teles!
I love the topside view and the head turn.
I see a bit of a sharpening halo around bottom wing-easy fix for you.
Would love to see this bird IRL someday.
Well done,
Gail

Hi Gail, I didn't notice the sharpening halo, but I touched up both wing edges anyway by cloning from the sky at about 10% flow. I also cropped it slightly tighter as per Arash's suggestion.



Let me know if this is better.

Thanks,
Raymond

[Daniel Cadieux]

Great find and great view of the top of the raptor's plumage!! Good comp. I only wish the face was a little sharper as posted.

[Melissa Groo]

Great job, Raymond. I can only imagine how fast this guy was diving. Pretty remarkable for stacked IQs. Just love that topside view.

[Raymond Lee]

Thanks everyone!

Great find and great view of the top of the raptor's plumage!! Good comp. I only wish the face was a little sharper as posted.

Thanks Daniel! I think the head looks sharp to me, but yeah the cheek can have a tiny more sharpness. I think my focus landed mostly on the back behind the head.

Great job, Raymond. I can only imagine how fast this guy was diving. Pretty remarkable for stacked IQs. Just love that topside view.

Thanks! As mentioned in previous threads, stacking with a Kenko 1.4x TC with a Canon 1.4x II gets me faster AF speed (as fast as just a single Canon 1.4x II) than the Canon 2x TC with fairly equal image quality. Just too bad, from what I heard, that the TC stacking does not work with the new Canon 1.4x TC III.

[David Salem]

Nice shot of this Gyr. Like the top side view showing off the feather pattern. Exposure looks good and the details look good too. I like the tighter crop also. Pretty cool stacking telies. Well done.

[Karl Egressy]

Great top view flight shot with nice eye contact. This is a great bird tyo get at shot of and you did a nice job, Raymond. Good info on the extenders.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the top view, exposure and composition. I agree with Daniels sharpness comment. Nice image Raymond.

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent top side view showing great feathers details,nice angle,HA and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Mike Veltri]

Love the re-edit Raymond, a great dorsal shot of this wonderful falcon.