Ring-necked Pheasant

[Raymond Lee]

Found this male Ring-necked Pheasant while I was out looking for some spring migrants east of Edmonton this long weekend. It didn't seem to mind cars in the rurals, but as soon as I stepped out of the car, it would jumped right into the woods next to the road. I was lucky that there were some snow banks on the side of the road, and the woods ended with a lease road. I was able to pop out from the snow bank and do a few shots before the pheasant madly dashed away.

Canon EOS 5D2 | Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS + Kenko 1.4x Teleplus PRO 300 DGX + Canon Extender EF 1.4x II
Manual mode, 1/1000 sec., f/8, ISO 400

All C&Cs are welcome!

Thanks,
Raymond

[Jamie Douglas]

Congrats on finding this Pheasant out in such sweet conditions Raymond. Exposure is very well balanced and enough light to show off the iridescence in the head plummage.



Jamie

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent, love how the colorful pheasant contrasts the white snow. sharp with good details and excellent low angle you nailed it

[David Salem]

Nice capture Raymond, great color and detail and the Ringneck really pops off the snow nicely. Techs look good too. Nice!

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image of colorful pheasant.I like the colors, details,tail feathers and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Grace Scalzo]

I like the purposeful stride and flowing tail. Techs spot on. Nicely done!

[Diane Miller]

Stacking two 1.4x TCs is new to me, and unmatched ones at that. The IQ looks great here, though.

You caught a great pose, and the snow is a lovely BG / FG. The thin shadow grounds the bird nicely.

[Raymond Lee]

Stacking two 1.4x TCs is new to me, and unmatched ones at that. The IQ looks great here, though.

You caught a great pose, and the snow is a lovely BG / FG. The thin shadow grounds the bird nicely.

Thanks! The 2x TC would slow AF down substantially. Stacking two 1.4x (Canon 1.4x II and the Kenko 1.4x PRO 300 DGX; equivalent to shooting with a 2x) would have the same AF speed as a single Canon 1.4x II while sacrificing a little AF accuracy. The 300/2.8L is so sharp optically such that the image quality is still pretty good when shooting with a 2x or stacking two 1.4x.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Really love how the bird pops against the snow.
Terrififc walking pose, great comp, and exposed very well.
Well done.

[gail bisson]

This is really nice.
Love the color against the white snow.
Gail

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great pose and colors.

[Diane Miller]

I have the 300 f/2.8 IS and the 2x II and have used the combination for several years, mostly with the 5D2. I have never noticed a significant slowing of AF with the 2x vs. the bare lens, and the IQ is excellent. You suggest there is some degradation with the combined 1.4's -- are you sure the AF issue is worth the IQ loss?

I'm not happy with anything that degrades an image when viewed at 100%.

[Raymond Lee]

I have the 300 f/2.8 IS and the 2x II and have used the combination for several years, mostly with the 5D2. I have never noticed a significant slowing of AF with the 2x vs. the bare lens, and the IQ is excellent. You suggest there is some degradation with the combined 1.4's -- are you sure the AF issue is worth the IQ loss?

I'm not happy with anything that degrades an image when viewed at 100%.

It is known that the having a 2x TC will AF slower than having a 1.4x TC. By stacking two 1.4x TCs, I get the same AF speed as having a single Canon 1.4x TC II for a slight sacrifice of AF accuracy, which didn't seem to affect my BIF captures. The amount of image degradation of stacking two 1.4x TCs is no difference to just having a single 2x TC. Hope that clears things up a bit!