Some BIF Shots

[Mike Lewis]

I went out twice with friends this past week and a half looking for some birds to image. We stayed in our local area the first trip, went at the wrong time of day, and basically got nothing. For the 2nd trip we got up early and headed out to a nearby wildlife refuge at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Commerce City. Not the kind of area you would normally expect to find such a facility, but obviously a nice repurposing of the facility grounds nonetheless.

On the 2nd trip I was practicing my birds in flight technique with my R5 and the RF 100-500 lens. I continue to be impressed with that combo. It is clear that the weak link in the chain now is my own skills. Anyway, here are 2 different birds captured, a Snowy Egret, and then a handful of images from a single sequence of one of the fastest little birds out there, a Barn Swallow. On that sequence I had the shutter speed cranked up and the frame rate running at 20 fps (electronic shutter). I was impressed at how the AF locked on and was able to give me a sequence of 18 frames, with many of them at or very near critical focus. While I cleaned up the Barn Swallow images with DXO PureRaw, they did not look bad with no NR.

All in all a fun 2nd day as I continue to try to learn about how to use my gear in an optimal fashion for this type of photography.

Snowy Egret:

Barn Swallow Sequence #1 (these guys even look fast standing still!)

Barn Swallow Sequence #2

Barn Swallow Sequence #3

Comments and critiques most welcome.

ML

 

[Ben Egbert]

Great work. I used to have a 500F4 and either a 40D or 1DSMK. I was into bird photography and tried swallows many times I never got one. Its hard just to get them in the frame, let alone sharp.

 

[AlanLichty]

I love the swallow shots - very nice details in these images for a very fast bird in flight.

 

[Trent Watts]

The Barn Swallow pics are really impressive. I can't seem to event get them in the frame let alone get the camera to focus.
Great work.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Thanks everyone. The Barn Swallows are a case of me somehow getting one in the EVF initially and then pushing the back button zone AF and letting the camera work its magic. A large amount of luck involved getting the camera close enough to the subject and close enough to initial focus to be able to lock on. But once there, it is amazing what it can do. certainly NO WAY to get shots like these without that kind of AF help.

 

[Ken Rennie]

Well done. I was trying to catch swifts, slightly fatter and faster with a 400mm lens and could barely get them into the frame and on the few occasions that I managed the camera was totally unable to focus on them. Ken

 

[JimFox]

Very cool Mike! You really nailed the Barn Swallow.

Rocky Mountain Arsenal is an awesome place for wildlife. Both for birds but also for wildlife like Bison. I have been there a bunch of times. It's been great for photography and the grandkids love the place too.

For Birds, you guys need to get to Barr Lake which is only about 20 minutes from there.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Very cool Mike! You really nailed the Barn Swallow. Rocky Mountain Arsenal is an awesome place for wildlife. Both for birds but also for wildlife like Bison. I have been there a bunch of times. It's been great for photography and the grandkids love the place too. For Birds, you guys need to get to Barr Lake which is only about 20 minutes from there.

Jim,

Thanks for the comments. Bison were a bust as in my excitement I ended up propping the lens across the car hood to shoot, with LOTS of heat coming off of it. major heat haze affected focus issues. DOH! The Barn Swallow really amazed me - the combo of the lens and camera can do amazing things with the right settings.

We have been to Barr Lake a couple times, it is very great in season, but this time of year they drain it down to the point that the water is very far from where you can walk so it is not as good, at least for waterfowl. It is in our rotation though for sure.

ML

 

[Eric Gofreed]

Exceptional work, Mike