I came across a flock of about 500 individuals feasting on eye-level crabapple trees. What a sight! Full in the trees, just as many on the ground picking up fallen bits, and many others waiting higher in nearby tall trees for their turn at the buffet. This individual was an odd loner, waiting on a small bush besides the crabapple trees, no more than three feet off the ground.
By the time I noticed it I only managed a five-frame burst of it. I was sooooo happy! When reviewing the images back home I noted that the first of the series was soft on the eye, tack sharp on the back. OK, fine. Then the second too, then also the third...and fourth. My heart sank. Amazingly, the fifth (and last) was tack sharp where needed! What happened that I could botch such an easy opportunity?? Operator error of course! The focus point was right on the upper back, directly beneath the eye. For me the focus point is usually one above center (and then shifted left or right depending on bird placement), but not this time. Being a hand-holder I must have swayed forward just enough to shift the focus onto the eye for that last image. Phew! AEF from those new mirrorless bodies will eventually help with that
Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/800s., f/5.6, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, slightly cropped to help the comp, removed a distracting branch poking in at left.








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