Merlin Takeoff

[Bill Dix]

This juvenile Merlin was dozing on top of the (man-made?) dune separating the beach from the fisherman's lot at Chincoteague, soaking up the sun on a frigid morning last weekend. After I got some frames of the sitting bird, a passing car spooked him. I love the pantaloons.

D7000, 500f4 + 1.4, ISO 800, 1/2500s @ f/6.3 manual. Lowered Gitzo and Mongoose.

[Doug Brown]

Looks like you had a fun time Bill! Nice timing with the takeoff pose, but I do wish the bird was taking off with its angled slightly towards the viewer. Also I think you've got a slight greenish cast in the frame.

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Bill, excellent shot with good details. Love the BG. My initial thought was the same as Doug's regarding the take off angle, but raptors often do to get away from intruder like car or people. Loi

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Doug and Loi. Yes, I do see a bit of green cast, now that you've pointed it out. Here's just a very slight shift away from green.

As you can see, the bird is angled slightly toward me, although I would have preferred some head turn in my direction. The passing car was on the far side of the dune, but of course the Merlin was also aware of my presence, so I guess he split the difference.

[keith mitchell]

Bill I'm with you on the great "pantaloons" don't have a problem with the pose ,it's a great capture.

Keith.

[gail bisson]

Very nice take-off shot!
I wish he had cleared the ground a bit more as it is not particularly appealing . You could take a bit off the bottom to minimize it. Excellent IQ as always.
I have a feeling I might really like the next frame with the wings down if you have it?
Gail

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Great capture, Bill. Glad you arrived before the car. May not have been the ideal head turn you wanted, but I like the separation helped by the shadow on the far wing.



Geoffrey

[Bill Dix]

Very nice take-off shot!
I wish he had cleared the ground a bit more as it is not particularly appealing . You could take a bit off the bottom to minimize it. Excellent IQ as always.
I have a feeling I might really like the next frame with the wings down if you have it?
Gail

Gail, I agree on all counts. I believe the dune must be man-made, thus the unattractive composition of it. I suppose I could take a bit more off. I do wish I had caught him with a little more ground clearance.

Unfortunately, the next frame has a very poor wing position, with the near wing almost totally obscuring the head. I lost him after that, and didn't get a down-wing shot. Maybe I need a body with a better frame rate.

[mohammad reza shahab]

very nice take off pose.good details and light.

[christopher galeski]

nice takeoff pose,with nice details and light.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Beautiful shot Bill, I like it very much, I don't mind his feet where they are but I suppose 1/20 sec later he would just about have cleared sand and there would have been a few grains flying around.