Black-necked Stilt in last light

[arash_hazeghi]

Black-necked stilt in last light, I had to do a good number of trials before I could get this one. These guys fly fast and zig-zag, very difficult to catch with the right pose and with good BG!!! I used focus trap technique, low sun angle and bushes in the BG have helped create a paintery feel :D hope you like it.



MK4 500+1.4X TC f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO 1600.

Thanks for viewing.

[Kiran Poonacha]

I love it Bhai, can you explain trap Technic please, would love to learn, Nice pose and details, yeah the BG works great here.. Nicely done..

[Scott Frye]

Background looks good and I like the detail in both blacks and whites -- nice BIF

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Light, wing position, eye contact and BG colors make this one for me. I might sharpen the legs a bit more and if it were mine, I might remove the dark area in the lower left.

[Stu Bowie]

Arash, good wing position, and those colours of the BG puts this over the top. Well captured.

[Krijn Trimbos]

Great wing position, good flightangle, details and beautiful BG. If this were mine I would lighten it up just a tiny bit. Otherwise pretty much excellent!

[Fabs Forns]

Impressive BG and colors. The light was with you :) NIce pose and catch light, really loving this one.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Loving this one too - that light...don't change a thing :)

[stuart wanuck]

did it again you have captured a nice pose

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Love the light and the BG Arash. Detail in the blacks look good. Agree about taking out the darker part in LLC. Only 1600 ISO???, you must have been having an off day:D

[arash_hazeghi]

thanks a lot guys.
Kiran: I will send you a pm about focus trap

[Arthur Morris]

Light and BKGR killer sweet. SH perfect as expected. Bummer on the bird molting its wing feathers so heavily.

Please explain what you mean by "focus trap."

[Eric Diller]

Perfect flight shot and the lighting is perfect. Outstanding........

[Dan Busby]

Another great image Arash! - for all the reason's already mentioned. Great BG really sets off the bird.

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks guys,
RE: focus trap:

The stilts are too fast to track and chances of getting them against desirable BG is low so I first look for a good BG then watch them as the pass, fortunately they tend to follow each other's flight path so I pre-focus manually on the approximate distance, I have programmed the (*) key on my cameras to work as AF-lock, I lock the AF then half-press the shutter button to lock exposure and reduce shutter lag, then as as soon I see the stilt enter the frame I release the * key and take a burst. Release is very quick since I already had the shutter half-pressed but the camera has a very short amount of time to focus between the release of the * key and full shutter release, sometimes it will hit and sometimes it will miss, you have to keep trying until you get one :)

Best

[Nico Steenberg]

Great sharp detail and IQ. Light to die for and comp works well. Subject is well exposed with good natural colours against a killer bg. Well done !