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    Might be an obvious statement but flight shots seem to be a lot harder with the 500F4IS and the Mongoose than with the 400F5.6 handheld. Well, I am starting to get the hang of it...

    Thanks for looking. JR

    Canon 40D, 500F4IS, 1/2000s, F5.6, ISO-400, Manual Exposure, Tripod w/ Mongoose 3.5a

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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    It's always easier to do flight photography hand held IMO. The 500 f/4 is a huge lens compared to the 400 f/5.6 so it takes a while to get used to. With regard to the photo, I like the head angle and the detail on the bird's left wing. I'm not crazy about the position of the other wing or the strong shadow on it. I might crop a little tighter.
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    BPN Member Tony Whitehead's Avatar
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    I agree completely with Doug - shooting handheld I find quite intuitive - it's like shooting with a shotgun in that you pivot about your axis - using a tripod you pivot around the tripod and have to move your head left and right , up and down so is a whole new skill to learn.
    F4 may have blurred out your BG more - wing pose looks very stiff and light angle not ideal. I really like the extended alulae, fanned tail and feet out as airbrakes.
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    Fabs Forns
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    Shame on the shadow, the rest of the picture is very painterly and attractive. Thanks for sharing!
    As for hand-holding, been there, done that. I use a tripod more often than not.

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    The right wing looks a bit awkward in shadow and shape, but the overall effect is quite artistic IMO. Agree with Tony on the F4 blurring the BG a bit more.

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    Thanks for the feedback! Agree with the right wing being the weak point of the image. JR

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Funny, somewhere on this site, in a BIF post, I stated that handholding a (shorter) lens (if possible) is always better for flight than using a big lens on a tripod and some guy trashed me. Glad that all here agree. Love the near-wing and the belly but the far wing (as noted) and the head bug me a bit. The belly is so much better lit than the head... Nice and sharp and a good EXP.

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    Arthur, thanks for taking the time to comment. I'll give it a bit more time with the 500F4IS on the tripod and see if I can figure it out for BIFs. It's just such a pleasure to handle it with the Mongoose.

    The picture was taken in Palo Alto, CA. JR

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