Redwing Blackbird

[Jody Melanson]

Model = Canon EOS-1D Mark II N
Exposure Time = 1/1250"
F Number = F8
Exposure Program = Manual
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Metering Mode = Spot
Flash = Off
Focal Length = 400mm
Color Space = sRGB
Exposure Mode = Manual exposure
Handheld using Bushhawk

Spring is finally springing! Redwing Blackbirds are all over the place here now. I was actually in my t-shirt without a Winter coat yesterday for a bit! Nice to be able to move around while tracking these fast little fliers.

[Victor Soares]

Love that background and good exposure on the blacks ....

Enjoy your spring/summer ... it's starting to cool down a little here, but worst of all is the migrants are starting to leave :-(

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

I know many of our forumers don't like the WOW comments but this is an incredible image.
The details and the sharpness is very nice. Never seen a decent flight shot of this species.

Szimi

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great wing position and eye contact. The blacks look a bit noisy on my monitor.

[Maxis Gamez]

Lovely Jody, not an easy capture. I do see some noise in the upper wing. I really like the colorful BG.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The very little noise that is mentioned in the blacks here is a non-factor on this fabulous image.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

This is a hard image to get and you did very good.

[john crookes]

Love the colors of the bg and the formation of the blackbird

might rotate the picture ccw to level the blue if it was water

[Sid Garige]

Excellent. Just excellent. Great subject with full wing spread and details.

[DanWalters]

Nice sharp and image and great details in the bird.

[Alfred Forns]

I just see a wonderful image Jody !!!! Love everything about it down to the bg !!! Only wish it was mine Big Time Congrats ...... you are good !!!!!

[Dave Phillips]

super Jody.....literally, oh master of the north!!

[Gus Cobos]

Jody, love your capture and flight angle... The details on the bird are superb...:D

[Jude Haase]

RWBB flight shot.......WOW!! Very nice work Jody!!

[Rosl Roessner]

Oh, what a wonderful image!
I love the colours and details. Wing position is great too!

[Jeffrey Sipress]

Great work! How do you use manual exposure during a fast moving moment like this? That surprised me.

[Robert Amoruso]

Great work! How do you use manual exposure during a fast moving moment like this? That surprised me.

Jeffrey,

Many flight photographers use manual exposure. The reason being that as you pan with a bird, the exposure will change based on the background's tonality. The worst case example is panning from sky to ground and you are using exposure compensation based on a sky exposure. As soon as you hit the foliage, the meter says I lost light (foliage darker then sky) so increase exposure to compensate and the bird is now over exposed.

With manual, which I use, I set exposure to give me a mid-tone when metering off a 18% mid-tone. You could use a gray card but not real practical. Mid-green foliage is a mid-tone. Once you determine the mid-tone exposure, you reduce exposure (less light) for white birds about 1 to 1 1/3 stops and add light for dark birds like the RWBB which gives better detail in the blacks but you have to decide upon how much so as not to blown out the background if that is important.

What I do is have my camera set for the white bird exposure and have my finger at the right of the dial wheel (Canon) and if a dark bird flies in, I rotate the shutter speed 1 to 1 1/2 more stops of light to give him more exposure and better detail in the dark tones.

[Jody Melanson]

Jeffrey,

Many flight photographers use manual exposure. The reason being that as you pan with a bird, the exposure will change based on the background's tonality. The worst case example is panning from sky to ground and you are using exposure compensation based on a sky exposure. As soon as you hit the foliage, the meter says I lost light (foliage darker then sky) so increase exposure to compensate and the bird is now over exposed.

With manual, which I use, I set exposure to give me a mid-tone when metering off a 18% mid-tone. You could use a gray card but not real practical. Mid-green foliage is a mid-tone. Once you determine the mid-tone exposure, you reduce exposure (less light) for white birds about 1 to 1 1/3 stops and add light for dark birds like the RWBB which gives better detail in the blacks but you have to decide upon how much so as not to blown out the background if that is important.

What I do is have my camera set for the white bird exposure and have my finger at the right of the dial wheel (Canon) and if a dark bird flies in, I rotate the shutter speed 1 to 1 1/2 more stops of light to give him more exposure and better detail in the dark tones.

Yup, what Robert said. Thank you Robert! :)

[Jeffrey Sipress]

Thanks for the true word of experience. You guys are amazing!