Trumpeter - In your face

[Steve Maxson]

This Trumpeter Swan is water skiing in to a landing on the Mississippi River at a Minnesota wintering site. 40D, 300 f/4 + 1.4X, 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 400, NR and gradient blur on background. Hand held using a BushHawk. All comments welcome and appreciated.

[Jeff Parker]

Good action shot. I can't put my finger on it, but somehow the image just doesn't "do it" for me:confused:

[Dave Leroy]

Very good landing pose Jim.
They are such big strong birds and this shows it well.
I really like the job on the whites.

[Stu Bowie]

Steve, impressive wings, these guys have. Good job on the exposure, and have you got the frame just before touch down.

[Craig Wallace]

Nice image Steve, love the feather detail and the splashing water. How do you like the BrushHawk? Thinking of getting one.

[Steve Maxson]

Steve, impressive wings, these guys have. Good job on the exposure, and have you got the frame just before touch down.

Thanks for your comments, Stuart. Yes, I do have a sequence of this bird (and several others) coming in to land - from final approach to touching down. :) It was a good day.

[Steve Maxson]

Nice image Steve, love the feather detail and the splashing water. How do you like the BrushHawk? Thinking of getting one.

Thanks, Craig, for your comments. I haven't been able to use the BushHawk extensively yet, but for this intermediate telephoto combo, I found it very helpful for keeping the focusing sensor on the bird - a definite improvement (for me at least) compared to just hand holding the camera and lens. Thus far, I haven't found it to be that helpful when using my much heavier 500 mm, but I think some weight lifting and more practice on my part would make a difference there. :)

[Vida van der Walt]

Love this Steve. Super pose, great exp, detail and splash!:)