Cedar Waxwing Running In Midair

Or at least that’s what it looks like. A short post today with an image that both amuses and frustrates me.

 

1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in

Yesterday in the Wasatch Mountains I caught this Cedar Waxwing jumping from one perch to another. With its wings mostly closed and its feet in these positions it looks like it’s trying to run in midair, which of course it isn’t. It had simply pushed off the perch with its right foot with the other one in a forward, reaching position. It made me smile the second I saw it but that smile was tempered when I looked at it more closely.

I don’t know what I was thinking with a shutter speed of only 1/2500 second. I nearly always try to get somewhere between 1/3200 and 1/5000 for little birds because they move so fast and I love action shots. I believe that right foot is extremely soft mostly due to motion blur and I would have liked the image better if the foot were sharp.

But if the entire bird were sharper I’d have liked the image better too. For some reason I got a lot of shots yesterday that weren’t as sharp as they should have been and this is one of them. That happens occasionally and it drives me bonkers when it does, especially since most of my recent shots have been so sharp they almost cut my eyeballs.

Last night I fiddled with settings on both camera and lens, cleaned electrical contacts and glass and got my other 7D Mark II ready to swap out with this one if I need to. That might tell me if it’s an issue with camera or lens, depending on results.

Hopefully it was only a temporary hiccup. That’s happened before…

Ron

 

 

 

23 Comments

  1. Elephants Child
    June 21, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    How I would love to walk on air.
    I hear you about the softness. I even understand. Just the same, if I was to blow my nose on your soft shots my poor nose would be red raw and bleeding very quickly.
    Isn’t it nice to know that when we take up permanent residence in crazy we will know (and like) a lot of our neighbours.

  2. Laura Culley
    June 21, 2018 at 9:21 am

    Personally, I maintain that it’s just not necessary to DRIVE me to bonkers. It’s just a short meander, especially since I’m normally teetering on the brink anyway. There’s really no sport in it, and yet, the Universe, or more precisely the current political climate, keeps a car running over there, just in case.
    That said, what a glorious image! I’m with Marty on the soft focus on the foot, illustrating the bird’s motion and the giggle factor of the overall image. Cedar waxwings give me joy whenever I see them.
    Sorry I’ve been MIA for a while. My computer insists on taking me over to bonkers every time I sit down with it. I’ve taken several days off, just to catch up on adult things and other fun things. And here I am at bonkers again…I just had to rewrite this message because that thing happened where it just deleted everything I’d written for some unknown reason. ARGH! Back to the cedar waxwing!!

  3. Arwen Lynch-Poe
    June 21, 2018 at 8:26 am

    I loved this. I can see the softness as a deterrent NOW. Lol…you’ve ruined me!

  4. Diana
    June 21, 2018 at 8:24 am

    Love your pictures that make me smile and this one sure did 😁
    Perfect way to start off what’s going to be a very busy day❗️Thank You
    Have a great day

  5. Susan Stone
    June 21, 2018 at 8:13 am

    Even with the softness of the right foot, this is a shot that is very intriguing. It keeps me looking at it over and over. I hope your camera difficulties are resolved. I’ve had that kind of issue with my little camera – some days all my shots are sharp, some days I can’t get a sharp one no matter what.

  6. Dick Harlow
    June 21, 2018 at 7:37 am

    I still think it is a great shot even with the soft foot! I agree with everyone else that it gives motion to the shot!
    I must say I tend (not always mind you), but tend to shoot at around 3500+ when shooting birds, or for that matter mammals, and it is all because of you and your blog. I’m even up there with butterflies and Dragonflies.

  7. Judy Gusick
    June 21, 2018 at 6:10 am

    Fun shot, Ron! 🙂 Even if the right foot is a bit soft it does show the “motion” to me – something I don’t think of with waxwings. It is frustrating when “settings” don’t work as we think they should. Hopefully you’ll get it sorted and it’s not something requiring a trip to the shop! 🙁

    • Ron Dudley
      June 21, 2018 at 6:15 am

      “a trip to the shop”

      That phrase makes me shudder, Judy! A friend of mine had his 500mm (same lens as mine) take a tumble recently and it will be a very expensive fix, not to mention how long he’ll presumably be without it.

  8. Marty K
    June 21, 2018 at 5:52 am

    This is a coolamatious shot, even with the slightly soft foot (which, I’d argue, enhances the sense of running on air).

    And as for driving oneself bonkers, in my experience it is a rather short trip and there’s rarely any decent parking. 😉

    • Ron Dudley
      June 21, 2018 at 6:13 am

      “which, I’d argue, enhances the sense of running on air”

      That argument could be fairly made, Marty. Many folks would prefer softness in the case of that foot to imply motion, it’s just that my tastes lean the other way. Actually that soft foot doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the slight softness of the entire bird does.

      Loved your last sentence. So true for me too, especially given the nasty and truly insane politics of the day.

  9. KathyG
    June 21, 2018 at 5:07 am

    A beauty of a shot!!! You are a perfectionist…that’s not a bad thing but I wonder how many others would view this photo with such a sharp eye. We are more critical of our own work though…that’s what drives us I guess to excell. I’ll have to view it on my computer screen when I get home to see if I see what you do…but It’s a beauty to my eyes. A most clever shot! 🙂

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