Purple Martins In Flight

[jfenton]

Today was frustrating. I'm beginning to hate the high humidity and what it does to your shots / contrast and I have to admit....these are the toughest flight shots I've ever taken. A fair bit of chimping was required

I think that all of these are females with the exception of the one that is obviously male colored....I really tried to catch them as they actually captured the dragonflies which they were feeding on.....but sorry to disappoint you Keith....I'm not that good

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This lady looks as though she's been captured and banded once or twice....

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[Gale]

Boy Jim,

That was some tough shooting for sure.

Wow they are so small and so fast.

Good job.

 

[jfenton]

Gale

Hiya Gale...

I wish my wife wasn't away...my neck is really stiff from following these guys in the viewfinder for a couple hours and I could use a neck massage

This is the toughest flight shooting I've ever done!

 

[Russ Smith]

Jim

That had to be a real work out trying to capture those images.

Russ

 

[jfenton]

Russ

Hi Russ.....

While it was a workout, I positioned myself under the shade of a tree and was shooting out into the light.....so other than getting dizzy and a sore neck, it wasn't horrible

 

[hillrg]

Holy cow :!: What are you going to do for an encore :?:


Very impressive Jim. Were you shooting with your 500?

 

[drueter]

Nice shots, Jim!! I've been trying for over a week to get a purple martin in flight -- so far all I have is blurs! Guess I'm getting slow on the trigger!

 

[jfenton]

Rory

I was using the 500 without the TC. I would have liked to have been back a bit in order to track them in easier, but the sky was sooo hazy that the 500~TC combo hunted more due to the low contrast.

 

[jfenton]

drueter

Believe me.....I had my far share of blurry shots today

 

[Greg]

very good work. I tried some swallows last week. Let's just say I didn't post them.

 

[Vernon t]

Third is great...twig and expression and feather detail.
I've tried. Those guys are tough to catch.

 

[dmwphoto]

This is the subject matter I find most fascinating, songbirds in flight. These are impressive captures Jim.

 

[Flew]

Tough catches Jim, but well done. These guys are a lot harder than the big birdies, huh? I'm impressed that you were able to get them with the 500.

 

[jfenton]

Frank

I went back out this morning in even worse light and got some shots that I'm impressing myself with! I'll post them a bit later...

 

[Blind Observer]

Spectacular shots, really well done very impressive. I particularly love the third and last shot. Thanx for sharing Jim. Those are just awesome.