Piercing the morning sky

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Piercing the morning sky

While photographing Pelicans with my 1000mm set up on the morning of July 29, 2015, at Ridgefield, Wa., a Great Blue Heron flew by at a perfect angle to the sun.  My instinct was to just, “shoot and ask questions later,” even with the 2x extender on my 500mm lens.  I already had the camera settings such that the white pelicans would not be blown out, so that turned out to be good for this heron, too.  The 2x really does a number on AF speed and accuracy and is never my ‘go to’ set up for flight shots.  But I couldn’t just pass up the shot.  The clear background (assisting the AF) and relatively slow speed of the bird were in my favor here.  Best viewed large!

VIEW LARGE

Canon 5D Mark III, 1/2000, f8, ISO 640, 1000mm, 7:20 a.m.

While photographing Pelicans with my 1000mm set up on the morning of July 29, 2015, at Ridgefield, Wa., a Great Blue Heron flew by at a perfect angle to the sun.  My instinct was to just, “shoot and ask questions later,” even with the 2x extender on my 500mm lens.  I already had the camera settings such that the white pelicans would not be blown out, so that turned out to be good for this heron, too.  The 2x really does a number on AF speed and accuracy and is never my ‘go to’ set up for flight shots.  But I couldn’t just pass up the shot.  The clear background (assisting the AF) and relatively slow speed of the bird were in my favor here.  Best viewed large!

VIEW LARGE

Canon 5D Mark III, 1/2000, f8, ISO 640, 1000mm, 7:20 a.m.

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My Gear:

  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV & Grip
  • Canon EOS 7D Mark II
  • Canon EF 500mm f4L IS II
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f4L
  • Canon EF 50mm f1.8
  • Canon 1.4X III Extender
  • Canon 2x III Extender
  • Canon 580EX Flash
  • Zoom H1 Recorder
  • Better Beamer
  • Manfrotto tripod/monopod
  • Manfrotto Gimbal Head
  • Sandisk Compact Flash Cards
  • The Molar Bean Bag by Vertex
  • Joby Gorillapod Focus & Ballhead
  • Canon EG200 Backpack
  • Storm Jacket Camera Cover
  • Kinesis Safari Sack
  • Original Bug Shirt Elite Edition

Software:

  • Adobe Photoshop CC
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
  • Nik Color EFEX Pro 4
  • Nik Sharpener 3
  • Nik Dfine 2.0
  • Nik Viveza 2
  • Nik HDR Efex Pro 2
  • Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
  • Nik Analog Efex Pro