Purple Martins in flight... DU warn!

[Jody Melanson]

1
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146797862-O.jpg

2
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146797859-O.jpg

3
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146797854-O.jpg

4
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146797875-O.jpg

5
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146797866-O.jpg

6
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146922992-O.jpg

Repost, but I thought worth posting again. :)

7
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146922984-O.jpg

8
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923015-O.jpg

9
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923196-O.jpg

10
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923245-O.jpg

11
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923227-O.jpg

12
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923678-O.jpg

13
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923217-O.jpg

14
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923297-O.jpg

15
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923281-O.jpg

16
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/146923269-O.jpg

17
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/147044644-O.jpg

18
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/147045364-O.jpg

19
http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/147045070-O.jpg

[ShepsMom]

Nice one Jody!!! Love BIFss (birds in fight) lol :barb

[ShepsMom]

Nice ones Jody!!! Love BIFs (birds in fight) lol :barb

[Maestro]

Great shots once again. I really like 5, 9, and 19. :thumb:bow

[Dick on Aruba]

Good work Jody:thumb You must have the fastest finger ofthis forum :D

Thanks for sharing,

Dick.

[raptorcaptor]

Awesome shots Jody! Love the feeding shots! :clap

[m8o]

The 1st thing that comes to my mind is "Good God, those are fantastic"!!! :D All that I hope to achieve over time.

I'm wondering, to get to these lower resolution images suitable for web viewing, are those full rez crops cutting out a lot of blue sky, or are those birds filling up the full frame at full rezolution and you resampled from the hi rez to low rez, or a bit of both?

[emmalou]

OMG.........I am speechless.


Except to say that I know how fast these birds are, and for you to be able to capture them in flight....well.that is incredible.

[windoze]

incredible !

makes me wanna throw my 30D in the garbage and run out for a 1dmkIIn, but then i realize its not the camera its the photographer. But it must be a little easier with the speed and AF of "that" more advanced camera.
anyway - your pics are amazing.
and thanx for sharing them with us coz they are inspiring!



troy

[dbaker1221]

yeah.....well....these are stunning....again:bow

[slflash]

:jawdropWow is all I can say! Those are amazing!!!!!

[Ric Grupe]

Hard to pick one...so I'll take 12 and 19!:thumb:thumb

Marvelous.:clap

[sskoutas]

So awesome, I'm almost speechless... almost. Unbelievable BIF's (battles in flight) Jody, but some of the single bird in flight shots (5, 10, 11, 14) may be about as good as I have ever seen from you... great job!

[photodoug]

more like an "airshow" than birds in flight. A really nice study in aerodynamics.

[Osprey Whisperer]

Wonderful series Jody..but #5 :lust :thumb

[Harryb]

outstanding :clap

[Greg Scott]

:jawdrop
Could you tell me the specifics of how you make these exposures.
For example, do you prefocus where you expect the birds will be?
Otherwise, how could you possibly focus so well on a rapid and erratic subject?
Do you use flash to help stop the action?
What ISO, lens, shutter speed and F-Stop do you use, approximately?
Do you use some particular behavior of the bird to "concentrate" the action, such as shooting at the approach to a nest site?
(Purple martins are cavity nesters which are largely dependant on bird houses, for example, right?)

These are some of the best birds in flight photos I've seen other than large raptors and hummingbirds. Birds "in the middle" seem to be much less frequently shot this well in flight.

I "specialize" in hummingbirds, but would love to expand to cavity nesters in general. I've had fair success with bluebirds, which are well acclimated to people who supply them with mealworms, for example. Purple martins, swallows of various sorts, and other similar insectivores would be delightful additions!

See http://www.gregscott.com to see examples of my bird photos and my Dad's photos, and for technical info on how they are shot.

[sskoutas]

:jawdrop
Could you tell me the specifics of how you make these exposures.
For example, do you prefocus where you expect the birds will be?
Otherwise, how could you possibly focus so well on a rapid and erratic subject?
Do you use flash to help stop the action?
What ISO, lens, shutter speed and F-Stop do you use, approximately?
Do you use some particular behavior of the bird to "concentrate" the action, such as shooting at the approach to a nest site?
[...]


Shhhhh.... don't tell anyone, but Jody's actually an Alien. He's got reaction times never before seen on Earth. The good news is, he comes in peace.

:D

Take me to your leader!
http://sskoutas.home.mindspring.com/marvin1.gif

[Greg Scott]

How about some info about your technique for shooting these photos.
Do you, for example, use your camera's autofocus, prefocus, or hand focus "on the fly", for example.

Enquiring minds want to know!

Fabulous photos!
I'm new here, will certainly look forward to seeing more of your work.