Evening Grosbeak in flight

[Isaac Grant]

Took a great trip with Gail and Ann to northern Minnesota. As much as I wanted to photograph owls, I really wanted to spend time with the northern finches that are so hard to find anywhere near New York City. This female Evening Grosbeak was photographed as it dove off of a perch and headed for a feeder. There were so many birds coming and going that is was difficult to know what to concentrate on but I knew that when the birds landed in a certain area that they would then go for the feeder.

Canon 1DX mark ii and Canon 500 f4 ii + 1.4x iii. ISO 1600, F8, SS 1/6400

[Arthur Morris]

Beyond astounding; everything is perfect. Was AF active at the moment of exposure or did you pre-focus? Even the head angle is perfect, as is the background. And super-sharp.

with love, artie

[Isaac Grant]

Thanks Artie. Auto focus was active. Full center zone held down and waited for the bird to dive. Got one point just above dead center on the back. Had enough depth of field to get the bird sharp. Basically just held down the zone with my thumb and waited for the bird to leap forward. As soon as I sensed movement I pressed the shutter. We did do some shooting where we prefocused as well but it was really hard to get the exact focus plane as the trees around the feeders were very thick and the birds were coming and going from so many directions. Would be much easier if you had a set up and had perches on either side of a feeder that were on the same plane as the feeder. I kept upping my shutter speed so I could freeze the action. 1/6400 was enough here but was tempted to go even higher.

[John Mack]

Very nice. I have not seen to many sharp flight shots of small birds like these. You nailed this one. Love the pose and the detail. Well done.

[Alex Becker]

Really awesome -- great pose, great BG, pretty much everything is great here. What a pretty bird and as John said rare to see a sharp photo of them in flight. Something to strive for. TFS

[annmpacheco]

Awesome Isaac this was not easy at all although I wanted to stay right there despite the frigid temperature and keep at it so I could walk away with one like this... not yet though! You sir deserve big applause for this well skilled frozen fingered snap, you had all the right steps and eventually you succeeded, I like that about you and I appreciate your generous knowledge that are are so willing to share , we all are appreciative of your suggestions, thanks and so well done this is beautiful

[Allen Sparks]

A stunning image - Great to catch that in flight pose on this small of a bird. BG is great too.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Artie. Auto focus was active. Full center zone held down and waited for the bird to dive. Got one point just above dead center on the back. Had enough depth of field to get the bird sharp. Basically just held down the zone with my thumb and waited for the bird to leap forward. As soon as I sensed movement I pressed the shutter. We did do some shooting where we prefocused as well but it was really hard to get the exact focus plane as the trees around the feeders were very thick and the birds were coming and going from so many directions. Would be much easier if you had a set up and had perches on either side of a feeder that were on the same plane as the feeder. I kept upping my shutter speed so I could freeze the action. 1/6400 was enough here but was tempted to go even higher.

Thanks and amazing. No need for you to switch. You cannot get much higher than 1/6400 sec.

with love, artie

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Isaac, this is simply very well captured, and you have nailed everything here. I really like the full wingspread, which in turn show off the colours. Overall tack sharp, and the bird pops nicely against that killer clean BG. A fine image and congrats.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Amazing image. I love the flight pose.

Congratulations on the capture.

[arash_hazeghi]

pretty cool shot Issac, nice dynamic pose and wing position, nice BG too. if mine I'd sharpen the head just a tad more to equalize it with the back,

well done!

[Isaac Grant]

Arash I went back and forth on the head but it probably needs a touch more sharpening. It seemed the feather structure was different on the back and face as compared to the top of the head. I noticed that when I first looked at shot. I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was the head being just a touch out of the depth of field or the different feather structure. Still not sure. Probably best to do what you said to try and equalize them. I got so many photos of these females and the few I have of the back and them looking over seem to show those very fine and soft mantle feathers as compared to those on the head. But I'm glad you mentioned it as I was hoping someone would.