Gambel's Quail

Gallery: AvianPosted December 13, 2009305 views31 comments

Here's another shot from Bill Forbes's place in Amado, AZ . To get this image I manually prefocused on the end of a perch these birds were landing on and then moved the camera just to the right to intercept them on their way in. This is about 85% of frame.

MkIII 500F4 1/3200 F7.1, iso 640, evaluative metering at 0, blind, tripod

Comments

31 comments

Comment posted by Bob Ampula on December 13, 2009 at 1:19 PM

Outstanding! Love your work. Did you bracket this with multiple shots?

Registered on September 29, 2008, 68 Posts, 47 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on December 13, 2009 at 1:21 PM

Thanks Bob! I shot a burst as he came in of about 5 shots. The shot before he had his beak open but only part of him was in the frame. I didn't do any exposure bracketing.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on December 13, 2009 at 1:32 PM

What an awesome shot, Nate!
I like the position of the bird, the colors and the background.
Perfect in every aspect.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on December 13, 2009 at 1:37 PM

Super nice, Nate. Great details, position, and BG.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Olsen on December 13, 2009 at 1:57 PM

Sweet capture Nate!....I'm jealous!!
Now I know just what it takes to freeze their wing action.
I really like the fan of the tail and the complimentary BG

Registered on October 19, 2006, 306 Posts, 1571 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on December 13, 2009 at 2:32 PM

Well done, Nate! I've hardly had any success with this method!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Ákos Lumnitzer on December 13, 2009 at 3:15 PM

Wow Nate! This is absolutely top stuff. If the head were turned in your direction it would be an insane image. As is, it still rocks big time though, you cannot have everything either. Hard work and smart technique paid off for ya!

Registered on April 24, 2004, 25 Posts, 510 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on December 13, 2009 at 3:31 PM

Wow, I can' t say I've ever seen a ' flight shot ' of this species Nate. Very nicely done

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 13, 2009 at 4:46 PM

aaarrrggghhhhh... I can barley even find these guys, let alone shoot them and here you are with a great flight shot...

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond Klassen on December 13, 2009 at 4:47 PM

Fantastic! Great wing spread, and good job at getting nearly all of the bird sharp.

Registered on November 30, 2008, 114 Posts, 790 Comments

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on December 13, 2009 at 5:11 PM

Great Job Nate. Pleasing BG, sharp head, very nice.

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on December 13, 2009 at 5:39 PM

A truly outstanding image. Getting the bird in this pose with this degree of sharpness seems incredible.

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on December 13, 2009 at 6:18 PM

Very nice!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on December 13, 2009 at 6:28 PM

You really show off your skill as a photographer with this shot! Stopped the action dead and the sharpness is fantastic! couldn't ask for anything more

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on December 13, 2009 at 7:33 PM

Very well done Nate. I especially like the almost vertical position of the quail's body and the frozen wings. The tucked up feet are fun too.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Twaddell on December 13, 2009 at 8:29 PM

Excellent, Nate! I will have to try this technique sometime.

Registered on August 16, 2007, 199 Posts, 2132 Comments

Comment posted by David Williams on December 13, 2009 at 9:38 PM

Very different and wonderful shot, Nate. Your setup paid off handsomely here.

Registered on March 8, 2005, 315 Posts, 2291 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on December 13, 2009 at 10:27 PM

Wow Nate, this is certainly different - what a great shot. Pin sharp and perfect timing.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on December 14, 2009 at 3:59 AM

A most intersting image Nate - I especially like the unusual frozen pose.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on December 14, 2009 at 7:13 AM

What a great pose Nate!

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on December 14, 2009 at 8:01 AM

once again, well-conceived and executed. great pose and very sharp.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on December 14, 2009 at 10:44 AM

Such superb timing. I would never have thought to try a technique like this. Worked well for you. Love the light and the comical look these guys always have on their faces.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on December 14, 2009 at 11:59 AM

That's a beauty Nate. Excellent pose and detail. I've tried this technique with bluetits at the nest but found that only about 10% of the images contained a bird at all! Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on December 14, 2009 at 4:12 PM

Smoking photo Nate

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on December 14, 2009 at 5:09 PM

Wow, excellent shot of a bird you do not see in flight that often, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on December 14, 2009 at 5:40 PM

Super job, Nate. Tack sharp, and the bg just lets the quail pop all it wants.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on December 14, 2009 at 6:28 PM

Awesome in flight shot of a beautiful bird. And what a nice BG.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on December 14, 2009 at 8:32 PM

Love it Nate

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen on December 15, 2009 at 6:57 AM

Awesome image! I love the wing and feather extension!

Registered on November 11, 2007, 42 Posts, 803 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on December 16, 2009 at 12:32 AM

Just fantastic, Nate!

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on December 26, 2009 at 8:39 PM

Another fine piece of work, perfectly frozen at 1/3200th.
Excellent

That 500mm is on my wish list

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments