Black grouse

[Agris Krusts]

Canon 1D Mark III, EF 600/4L IS with 1.4TC, ISO 500, 1/400, f/6.3

[DeanNewman]

This is an awesome behavior image and one I'd be too enthralled with the action to remember to press the shutter. You are truly privileged to have witnessed these birds fighting. I've searched all over Northern Europe and have yet to see a Black Grouse, let alone photograph them. Also excellent angle. Was this a large crop? Noise seems high in BG. You might consider some serious blur to mitigate. IMO the image suffers from front bird's head being OOF. Although out of your control, I think the birds are just positioned lousy. Your shot shows you did everything you could do to make the shot but the subjects didn't cooperate. This is a valuable photo; one I'd refer to often just to remember an outstanding day in the field. Congrats again on witnessing this rare event.

[Agris Krusts]

Thanks for the comment. This is a crop. This is on the first days of the lek and birds was quite far.

I agree that the picture has many areas for improvement but still I like it. Hope next spring will find some lek site closer to home so will be able to work on it longer. This is ~200 miles driving.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Wow Agris, lot of driving buddy. :) You are dedicated and that is the best way to get these types of images. Sure, technically this is far from perfect, but the behavior makes those technical details irrelevant in this case, at least for me. Thanks for sharing. Hope to see more of your images mate. :)

[Doug Brown]

Love the action captured! 200 miles is a long drive, but I wouldn't think twice if I could get action like this. With a Mark III, I'd push my ISO to 1000 or 1600 to give myself enough shutter speed and DOF to freeze the action.

[Harshad Barve]

lovely cation here , Agreed with Doug here
TFS