Mach 1

Gallery: AvianPosted December 31, 2014231 views8 comments

Penthaz, Switzerland
D300s 300mm f2.8 ED VR2 with 2TC series 3 attached
ISO 400 1/1600 at f /7.1 EV +1 WB Auto Centre weighted average
Hand held
RAW file original,15.6% of original frame!
Back-lit against a washed out blue sky, noise aplenty in the dark regions. Photoshop PS6

In June I set out to photograph flying Bee Eaters catching bees and other insects on the wing. I was struck by this shot showing the tail feathers in a plane, practically perpendicular to that of the wings. The overall effect reminds me of the Bell X-1, piloted by one of my child-hood heroes, Chuck Yeager.

Your crits. and nits are most welcome.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Hisham Atallah on December 31, 2014 at 5:56 AM

Beautiful in its simplicity! I like the crop.

Registered on November 5, 2014, 121 Posts, 352 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on December 31, 2014 at 9:17 AM

Looks like a sleek fighter jet. Very unique capture. Well done.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on December 31, 2014 at 10:43 AM

Simple ..original ....beautiful piece of work ..Hats off

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on December 31, 2014 at 6:10 PM

Even the orange color looks a bit like that of the X-1 - a spectacular shot!

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on December 31, 2014 at 11:35 PM

Very nice, David. Except you have it backwards: the X-1 was based on birds, not the other way around.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on January 1, 2015 at 3:14 PM

Hi David

Beautifully captured, love the incredible form of this bird!! when i was a kid, i was also fascinated by the X-1 and Chuck Yeager. today i see fighter planes as weapons of death. and as money spent wrongly.... Jim Dewitt echoed my thoughts perfectly

Albert Darmo
Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on January 1, 2015 at 11:17 PM

Excellent capture David-Yeager would be proud! At 1/1600s you froze the action well so I've got to think your panning technique was flawless, well done.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on January 2, 2015 at 9:23 PM

David,
I am not sure this is a bird. Are you sure you weren't playing darts? It is a very interesting image. Wonder how it would look if you dodged his face a little and around the eye.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments