Ruffed Grouse on drumming log

[Mike Lentz]

Spent some time in the woods recently with a Ruffed Grouse. I owe a bit of thanks to my friend Stan for putting me on this specimen. They are indeed beautiful and NOT an easy bird to get images of, so I am happy. This was taken in low light in the woods and I used a variety of ISO's to get different wing blur looks... from stopped to blurred and I like this blurred wings one the best. (I think) :)
I can post the higher ISO image if people want for comparision purposes.



Nikon D300 ~ Nikkor 300mm F/2.8 with Nikon 1.4x TC on tripod
ISO 800 ~ F/5 ~ 1/60 sec

[John Chardine]

Absolutely superb Mike. The blur really works here and I love the head-on view. The dark right hand margin with the sliver of in focus branch is a tiny bit distracting, but overall magnificent.

[John Haig]

Agree with John on all points, Mike. Love the wing blur...perfectly illustrates the act of "drumming"

I'll vouch for them being tricky to photograph...I located 4 drumming logs this spring, not one was suitable for photos. Next year.

[Fabs Forns]

This is super cool, MIke, fantastic blur on the wings and I like the frontal blur and the habitat included.
The bird almost resembles a pine cone :)

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Mike
Fantastic shot - can't add to what john has already said
I'm curious , how close did you get to the bird ? Was this from a blind?

[Juan Aragonés]

:eek::eek: Killer! The thumbnails no not makes justice to this image. the dark stuff in the right is a bit distracting but man, with such a nice action in the center of the image, it really doesn´t matter. Very good use of low shutter speed

[Grace Scalzo]

This image rocks, Mike. I do not recall ever seeing this before, well done!

[Sid Garige]

My hat off to you Mike. Perfect execution.

[Mike Lentz]

Mike
Fantastic shot - can't add to what john has already said
I'm curious , how close did you get to the bird ? Was this from a blind?

Thanks everybody! No blind on this bird which was amazing because over a dozen Grouse in the area wouldn't let us near them even though we were covered up.