Great Blue Heron, wings up (view larger)

A question of wing position and your thoughts, please.

Excellent capture from all points of view!

Superior action shot, very well done.

Lovely picture Steve. Sharp and good colors. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent bird photograph with amazing details and very effective dof. Wonderful action shot. Best rating... Best regards.

ABsolutely fantastic shot, with an even more beautiful comparison image. Superb! Regards - Sekhar

Excelente captura y momento captado, con una magnifica luz, tonos y detalle.

Un cordial saludo -Tolo.

Hi Steve, I like this one more than the other one. Probably because I always like symetry in all shot, I find that it's more balanced. Great shot! TFS!

In larger view or the normal presentation view both are spectacular and so well presented. It is so nice to get such a detail rich and clear image with great motion . It is worthy of comment and high marks... MJ

Just commented on Lihn Dinh version of the exact same shot, both are well done and interesting and the concept work is great including as I noted the tone. 

These shots are amazing, not only sharp, but colourful and detailed also. I particularly like them against the contrasting backdrop they look almost 3D. I was studying the focal length and shutter speed you used, I can see why the images are so sharp as the shutter speed is 1/1600th sec, but a 500mm lens must be quite a lump to manipulate, and the slightest shake would cause blur,  Do you pan the shots in a hand held fashion? or swivel the camera on it's tripod? or simply wait for the bird to cross a predetermined place that your camera is focused on?

Excellent work Steve!

Best Regards

Alf

Hi everyone,  thanks for stopping by.

It looks like there is a slight favor of the wing dip version at this point.  I especially thank those of you who explained your thoughts and preferences.

Alf; using the 500 on a 7D is, as you said, a bit of a lump but it keeps me in shape I guess.  I find that shooting wide open, or nearly so, gives me a pretty good dof at the distances that I usually shoot.  That with an ISO of at least 400 lets me blast away at higher speeds.  The 7D gets noisy in shadows and low light if I go much above 400 but it seems to work.

I should probably use the perfectly good tripod and Sidekick that I have like most of the guys but I can move faster without it.  At near 70 and a knee that needs to be recycled I will likely get to it more often...

Best of luck and keep on shootin'

Steve, excellent shot. I feel this image is sharper than the other image. Very good exposure ,light & details. Recently, I have learned that bird-photography is a test of physical endurance, patience , skill and appropriate lens. At your age, I feel you are capturing excellent shots. I must confess that though I am lacking in all these conditions, I have developed a special liking for bird-photography by watching the fantastic images of Arthur Morris , and others.

I am wondering why this photo is so similar with another one on photo.net.

No mystery here Wei Wei.  We, Linh and a number of other PN posters and I, often end up shooting within a few feet of each other.

Great Job!

 

Greg

Another great image, Steve.  Very effective DOF.  Great colors and detail.  I sltightly prefer the wings down version.