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MacDonald


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Birds In Flight (Basic Editing)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Canon EOS-40D
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
Location: Moss Landing graveyard
Date: Mar 21, 2011
Aperture: 6.3
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/400
Galleries: Nature, Birds
Date Uploaded: Mar 21, 2011

 The heron was so close I clipped the tip of his wing but I like it so much that I decided to use it anyway. I have other shots with his wing intact but the mouse wasn't as sharp. Not much done in post processing as it was basic editing but thankfully I was so close that the bird was in good focus and it was late afternoon so the colors were saturated.
I stopped up 1/3 F-stop, crossed my fingers and hoped my panning worked. For my taste, I like some motion blur in a bird as I feel it adds to the feeling of flight.
I was going to enter a red-tail but the sky was so boring and he wasn't doing anything interesting ... hope I didn't make a mistake.

This was the one I was going to enter
shot on the same day and edited using basic editing but it didn't tell a story like my entry so I went with the heron.

Thank you all for your votes and comments - so appreciated.

I love my little Bluebird of Happiness!


Statistics
Place: 5 out of 114
Avg (all users): 6.7168
Avg (commenters): 7.6429
Avg (participants): 6.6667
Avg (non-participants): 6.7362
Views since voting: 2243
Views during voting: 440
Votes: 226
Comments: 25
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/01/2011 08:10:30 AM
Well look at you!! 5th place!! :D
Looks like you didn't even need my vote after all. ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2011 03:14:35 AM
Poor mousie.. Excellent capture. Congrats on your HM!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/30/2011 09:34:38 AM
Incredible capture! Congrats on 5th place!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/30/2011 08:05:50 AM
Great story shot, Maggie!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2011 09:07:02 PM
For the record, I loved the colorful background - and how appropriate to carry the poor hopefully (or at least soon to be) dead mouse through a graveyard.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2011 08:19:40 PM
This is such an amazing nature shot... even tho I feel sad for the poor little mouse. Congratulations on 5th place!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2011 08:16:49 PM
congrats Mac!
sure glad I missed that falcon shot :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2011 08:09:00 PM
This is still just incredible! What a capture! Congrats on the hm. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/29/2011 07:21:25 PM
oh my!! dinner!! Truly a wonderful shot - I love the colorful background.

Message edited by author 2011-03-30 13:00:29.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2011 05:33:42 PM
Great capture ΓΆ€“ interesting background too (sort of appropriate for the unfortunate critter)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2011 05:47:27 AM
Ok, since I'm not voting in this challenge, and it's driving me up the wall, I'm awarding bluebirds to my 10 favorite shots. I'll post them in the posthumous awards thread after the challenge is over, but I just couldn't wait until then!

Ok. This one has to have a bluebird simply because of how bizarre it is!! Is that a rat?! And flying over a graveyard? What a find! Here's a bluebird:

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2011 03:43:40 AM
An incredible composition.
The contrast of the bright background and the grey bird is great.
The vole (?) must be an unusual prey item.
Shame to lose a wing tip.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2011 10:25:54 AM
quite remarkable - appropriate setting as well! I'm sure this will soar for you
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2011 06:00:14 PM
I'm a bird photographer and I'm in this challenge. All I can say is WTF????!?!?!!!! I love it! I want to buy it!!! You can't make up stuff like this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2011 07:13:11 PM
nice catch (the mouse) LOL 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2011 10:47:42 AM
Great capture and title!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2011 07:27:14 AM
Ideal timing and lighting...10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2011 05:42:00 AM
The title really helps elevate this one. Fantastic story in a great shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/23/2011 02:23:48 PM
bad day for the mouse, nice photo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/23/2011 11:50:49 AM
The background is too intrusive and a wing is cut
 03/23/2011 09:48:32 AM
Wow, awesome capture. I didn't even know that herons ate anything other than fish.
The graveyard is pretty distracting, but its not like you could decide where he was going to fly with his prize. Hope this does well for you. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/23/2011 07:28:41 AM
Ick, but wonderfully well captured, and the setting just takes this to a whole 'nother level of storytelling!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/23/2011 05:23:53 AM
Great capture, but the cut off wing tip is bugging me, as is the distraction of the brightly colour flowers. I reckon you could have cropped the flowers. My son reckons you should have converted to B&W so that the flowers wouldn't be so much of a distraction. I think he's right. Good job all the same.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/22/2011 09:00:35 PM
wow, right place at the right time, nice
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/22/2011 08:34:10 PM
oh my god, i'm leaving for mexico in two days and have no time to vote or comment or do ANYTHING other than look through photos superfast this week, but i HAD to comment on this - oh my god, WHAT a catch! And the background! Wow. Great capture. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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