Northern Harrier with snake

[Kiran Khanzode]

Image was taken at a wetlands location near my home. This is an all-natural image, no set-up, no feeding or baiting.
After skinning the snake a bit, this female(?) harrier took off. This is the first frame out of 3 that I hit (parallel to me). The 7D can focus on demand.

I heard the snake shout "Help meeee! "

EOS 7D, 400 f/5,6 @ 5.6, ISO 400.

Thanks for looking, enjoy the moment.

Kiran

[Harshad Barve]

lovely image with great wing pose and ofcourse snake in talons
BG looks great here
For me this is too tight , If mine I may add canvas on top , bottom and front of bird and brighten the image a bit
7D seems to be inspiring one :D:D:);)
TFS

[Connie Mier]

Well done capturing the bird and the snake. I do wish the wing had more light to it and I agree with Harshad on the framing.

[Dave Blinder]

Nice DOF and of course outstanding behavioral shot. Perhaps a bit of fill flash could have helped on the wings?

[david cramer]

Wonderful catch, and having the snake's mouth open adds to it. I'd agree with both adding more canvas and lightening the wings. Well done!

[Stu Bowie]

I like the eye contact, and the light on the head and eye. Good to see his catch with open mouth, and I would maybe run some NR on the BG. Well captured Kiran.

[spiderhunters]

Great shot Kiran! So you do notice better AF performance in general on the 7D vs. 20D/40D?

[scott benson]

stunning shot.

[Kiran Khanzode]

Thx, all for your comments, glad you loved the picture.

Spiderhunters, I definitely find the AF on the 7D much-much superior to a 20D/30D. This camera's AF is atleast as good as my 1D mk2.

I find that each of my lenses (teles, superteles) needed micro-adjustment with this camera body. Anyone expecting great results straight out of the camera...can dream on. :-)

I never shot flying birds with my 40D (and I love that camera), but this 7D is performing equally well or even better ever since I put it under test. I haven't missed a peak moment ( that can be blamed on the camera). It is living up to my expectations of high ISO, AF, 8fps, 18mp cropping ability hype( and yes, the reduced weight). I personally believe in capturing 1 critical frame/action shot in each session/each subject, and the 7D has done that for me more than once so far in two weeks of me owning it. And, I am not spraying and praying, in the above case, I shot 3 critical frames when the bird came parallel with me, all were sharp.

I do find that the viewfinder blackout time of this camera sucks..compared to the 1D series. Once can easily lose track of the subject if shooting a longer burst. 1D series rocks in that regards.

The beauty of this camera is that there are MANY AF modes to use and at your disposal with a quick 2-click shortcut to switch to. It all depends on what AF mode one chooses for a specific situation. I have seen pics of flying birds taken by some folks with Spot-AF mode...a big No-No (Canon says that too) ! The single Manual AF point is accurate and so is the AF-Expansion. Zone AF is a lifesaver for fast action (including birds) and if you want to make sure the central cluster of 9 picks up the action somewhere on the bird's body and tracks it and gets your money shot.

I would say, take all advice/opinion (with a grain of salt) from the internet experts (including a new birder like me)...and just try the camera for yourself. I bought this camera with a specific purpose in mind and it's living up to my expectations already. Very soon, I will put it to work in the field...so far, these tests have only made me happy about my full retail price purchase :-).

Good thing about this camera is it has converted me into a birder. The ultra light setup of 400 f/5.6 and this camera is priceless. You can carry it all day long and not feel a thing.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Thanks for the Info kiran, great light and action captured here. congrats..