Finally!!

Hi Dottie: Congrats on your flight shot!! I'm warning you..... It is addictive When shooting BIF (birds in flight), I like to use manual exposure. It solves the problem of the meter being influenced by the changing backgrounds. After all, the exposure we're after is right one for the bird. Looks like you had some pretty challenging light and a lot of contrast to attempt to tame. In reference to the 7D, here's a link to a 7D setup guide by my friend Doug Brown who is a specialist at Birds in Flight. You may find it helpful.

Dottie, this is nice add sharp for 1/640s. I like the position you caught the bird in. As far as comp goes, a bit more room out front for the bird to fly into would be nice.

I might also try and bring down just the brightest areas of the image a bit as they are a bit bright.

From the look of the larger version, I would say this shot was tack sharp or close to it in-camera. So, it should not take much sharpening in post-processing to make it look perfect, but the larger image looks a bit over sharpened. I would try backing off on the sharpening a bit. Also, the contrast is very high, which might in part be due to the sharpening applied to the image. I would reduce the sharpening a bit.

Did you lighten up the shadows in post-processing, there is a bit more noise in the shadow parts of the bird than I would expect with the 7D and very little crop.

If I may suggest a few things relating to consistently getting sharp bird in flight images. First, it really helps to shoot on days with good light conditions so you can keep your shutter speed up over 1/1250s minimum. Fast shutter speeds help so much. However, you still need to pan at very close to the same speed as the bird. So, I like using just the center focus point, or center point with assist points surrounding the center point. It is much easier to keep the one focus point on the target and move at the same speed as the target than to have all the focus points lit up and try and pan at the correct speed. Also, if you try and use all 19 focus points to get a bird in flight and the BG is a busy one (i.e., not blue sky) then the AF will have a tough time picking the bird and not the BG. With just the center point and you keeping the point on the bird the camera will focus on the bird with no interference from any BG elements. If you know you will be shooting against the blue sky then the center point with assist points works very well.

IMO, the key to consistently sharp BIF shots is to get good at keeping that center focus point on the bird as you pan. Better yet, get good at keeping the center focus point on a particular spot on the bird, like the bird's breast as you pan the entire series of shots as it flys by. If you can do that you are panning at the speed of the bird and you will get a lot of sharp images.

There is no substitute for practice. The best AF and the most AF points in the world will not substitute for being good at quickly acquiring the bird in your viewfinder and being able to pan at the exact speed of the bird. Oh, and I def agree with Keith, manual exposure is the only way to go for flight shots for the exact reason stated by Keith.

Just some suggestions. Keep up the good work.

Congratulations, Dottie. A very nice shot. I agree with Ron and Keith's advice, particularly the manual exposure.

Nothing much more to add but as Keith says your in trouble now with BIF
Lets see some more

Good job!! Now you're hooked..
practice, practice, and more practice. Great advice already from Ron and the others.
Sandy

Wonderful flight shot, Dottie. As many have said, once you achieve any degree of success, you'll keep striving for perfection. Really nice detail overall; perhaps just a bit of noise reduction on the background. Nicely captured.

The excitement that is evident in your title is contagious Dottie and I can see why. When I first started doing BIF it took me a long time to get a shot as nice as this. Enjoy your new addiction!

Way to go Dottie. I missed this post until now. I know how much you've been wanting this. I know the suggestions regarding settings for birds in flight can be pretty daunting. An alternative to the manual exposure is to use the spot metering rather than matrix metering and the camera will be less confused by the changing background. We'll go shooting soon.