Ruff explosion

[Todd Frost]

Grouse taking off unexpectedly. Walking down road not prepared for this guy. Settings not optimal for dof. Taken early last spring.
D2h, 70-200 f2.8, 1/1000, f2.8, iso200, awb
Thanks for looking, comments and critiques always appreciated.
Todd

[Steve Maxson]

Wow! Nice job on a next-to-impossible photo as these birds really do "explode" when they take off. I've never seen an image like this before.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Perfect timing!! Only wish for a better head turn, but very forgivable considering the situation :-) The BG is bordering on too busy but I like it in this case. Might crop from the top to eliminate most of the URC tangles.

[Jim Poor]

Good job getting this when you were unprepared for it. Nice patterns in the feathers too.

[Gayle Clement]

Super timing. It's great to see such detail in the feathers.