This Long-billed Curlew made several transitions as it came in to land – from poor light to good light, from a mostly featureless background to an interesting one and it touched down in a field of flowers. This 7 image sequence was photographed two days ago on Antelope Island.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I had been photographing a different curlew to my left when this bird flew in with the apparent intention of joining it on the ground. Of course I had no idea where it would land and my side of the bird was in shade as it approached but I kept my lens on it anyway because with birds you just never know what might happen. The curlew made a big, slow gliding turn in front of me as it descended and as it slowly turned my way…
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
the lighting improved considerably, though the background doesn’t yet have a lot of interest for me.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
But as the bird dropped lower I think the setting improved dramatically. I’ve cropped this image to a somewhat unconventional composition to accommodate the flowers in the foreground. The background is a hill that slopes to my left so I’ve resisted rotating the image to level the horizon.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
The danger in situations like this with tall vegetation in the foreground is that the focusing sensors will lock on to the plants instead of the bird…
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
and that’s exactly what happened in the next frame so the bird is noticeably soft but I decided to include it because I thought the landing posture was important to the sequence.
1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I reacquired pretty good focus lock on the bird in the next frame just before touch-down.
1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
And then, as curlews are prone to do just after landing, the bird seemed to celebrate its successful flight maneuver with an extended wings-up display amongst the flowers.
Because of all our rain this spring the vegetation on the island is unusually tall and lush so it’s difficult (going on impossible) to get a clear shot of your subject on the ground. But I thought this posture with the curlew surrounded by flowers worked quite well even though we can’t see a large portion of the bird.
Ron
The second-to-last has an “WHOOPS” quality about it. I can imagine the bird showing “WHOOPS” as it seemingly crashes into the flowers. 😀
I apologize for not responding to each comment individually today. It’s been one of those days where “life” got in the way. But please know that each and every one of them was appreciated very much. Thank you all!
I hope it was “the good life” that was happening, that “got in the way”–you deserve the best….
It’s a thrill and a pleasure to see these. I’ve opened this page to look at them all over again 8-9 times today. Just wow.
Awe and wonder. There is sooooo much beauty in something they do again and again. And that we watch again and again, and need your lens and eyes to see.
Hi! loved all the photo’s, but liked the last one the best! Keep up the good shooting! Have a great day now!
Great photography idea. I like the light, contrast and composition in your images. Thanks you so much.
Magnificent shots Ron!
Charlotte
Hard to pick a favorite in this wonderful series, but I particularly love the last two, with the bird embirded in flowers the best….like the shots showing the fanned, banded tail feathers, too.
Wonderful series! As usual, my eyes had a hard time with the background starting with image #3. I’m glad you left in the one with the ‘soft’ bird, because the positioning of wings and body is very interesting. I also love the details of the wing feathers that are so clear in most of the photos.
Superb series! What magnificent birds!
Considering the challenge of keeping focus throughout a relatively long sequence of images, you and that Canon did quite well! Thank you for resisting the urge to straighten out a sloping hill! Feels much more natural. And the final shot of the bird coming to rest in his own personal flower garden is wonderful.
Thanks for another great “day-starter”!
Wonderful sequence Ron! I love all of them but last three are just mind blowing, the display of its beautiful tail feathers and wings…
“The danger in situations like this with tall vegetation in the foreground is that the focusing sensors will lock on to the plants instead of the bird…” you did overcome that hurdle with flying colors 🙂
Thanks, Rima. I “overcame that hurdle” in most of the sequence but in the fifth image the bird is somewhat soft because I locked on to the flowers at lower left. For this presentation I even gave the bird an extra round of sharpening but it didn’t fully resolve the problem.
Wonderful images Ron. I really like #4 and #5. Amazing bills on these birds !
Thank you, Ed.
That had to be a ton of fun taking those shots!
Great pics, beautifully done!
It was, Dick. Wish I had it to do over again though, so I had another chance at keeping my focus points on the bird instead of the plants in the foreground.
Great series Ron! Love #5 and the light coming through the feathers!
Thank you, Nancy.