I thought I might never capture this flight posture in a songbird during my entire career as a bird photographer. For me it’s only happened a single time and it very likely won’t happen again.
- Some veterans of Feathered Photography will have seen the horizontal version of this Sage Thrasher image before because I posted it five years ago.
The flight posture that many (including yours truly) find so desirable includes the following features:
- A perfectly vertical orientation of the bird’s body while it’s flying laterally at approximately a 90° angle to the viewer.
- The tail, both wings and both alulae must be fully flared.
- A full view of the face with a catch light in the eye.
- The bird must be calling in flight with its bill open while in this posture.
- The bird must be sharp, in good light and completely or mostly unobstructed.
That’s a very tall order and if any of the above features are missing the image doesn’t count. I’d come close several times but never a cigar.
1/5000, 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
My single success occurred five years ago this month during a five day camping trip to Wayne County, Utah. This presumed male Sage Thrasher had been singing while perched on sage (how appropriate) but he wasn’t particularly close to me so my best hope was for takeoff or flight shots so his wings would fill more of the frame.
In my first shot after takeoff he was in a pretty typical flight pose but 1/10th of a second later in my next shot in the burst he had twisted into my most desirable flight posture and my shutter happened to fire at that exact moment. And he was still far enough from the left edge of the frame that I didn’t have to add canvas for composition if I cropped vertically.
I was predictably delighted to get the shot.
Some bird photographers capture this flight posture fairly regularly but they typically use elaborate setups to do it, including but not limited to multiple artificial perches, strategically placed bait (food), flash, artificial backgrounds and other sneaky strategies that they rarely if ever disclose to the viewer.
So I was tickled pink to get this shot au naturel.
If you prefer here’s a horizontal crop of the same photo but I had to add canvas on the left to achieve this composition.
This was our view at dawn out my camping trailer window from one of our dispersed camping spots on that trip.
It was almost hard to pull myself away to go look for birds that morning.
Ron.
SUPERB!
Charlotte
Fantastic shot Ron! Stunning. That is such a sweet vertical crop that it just sings naturally.
We’ve been in lockdown for 2 weeks now in Sonoma, its getting pretty old. Lucky for me a pair of White-tailed Kites are nesting in a tree just a stone’s throw from my house, they put on quite show last weekend with their courtship ritual.
You nailed it! A wonderful shot.
I’ll toast your cigar with my Bourbon. 🥃 You definitely hit this one out of the park. The feather detail is astounding and what little of my biomechanical mind that remains sees all the anatomical structures and positions in play to promote lift. I especially like the vertical crop because of the sage along the bottom.
And the last shot is absolutely butte-iful!
Thank you, Marty. Butte-iful indeed.
I seem to recall a photo you took/posted some years ago of a Red-tail Hawk with wing-and-tail feathers fanned out so beautifully … it made me think of an orchestra’s maestro getting ready for the dramatic climax of the musical piece being performed! This image has much the same feel (although, sorry, no thrasher can compete for beauty in the Red-tail’s presence). But it is so dynamic! And the lit-up buttes are glorious! I look forward to the day we can all be in the presence of similar beauty once again ….
Chris, to coin a phrase beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t think I’ve ever met all of my criteria with a raptor of any species but I’ve come fairly close with red-tails, harriers and perhaps an owl or two.
Wow. I am throwing a packed humidor of virtual (stinkless) cigars your way.
That scenery would have had my jaw swinging too.
The “stinkless” is much appreciated, EC!
As I read the text and scrolled down to the picture my first thought…Ta Da😁 Gorgeous ❗️It really doesn’t get any better.
When you say never cigar, I think I would have had one 😜
Diana, If I’d had one I’d probably have smoked it. And I hate the smell of cigars!
Gorgeous! And so enlightening as to wing structure in flight. As to nature photographers’ sly tricks: their motto should be: first do no harm. And the only way to do no harm to creatures whose lives we really do not understand fully is to do: nothing.
I agree, Sallie. Take nature, and behavior, as it is – natural. Don’t manipulate it.
A magical trip, sage grouse, a stunning sage thrasher in flight and golden glowing buttes in the morning light. You should go more often!
Nice re-sharing of archives!
“You should go more often”
That exact thought has been going through my mind all morning, April.
With me resigning my job, I started making plans for 12 camping trips in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and finally Glacier National park. 2 a month for the next 6 months, starting in March. Well if we make it out of this alive they should be the best planned trips ever!
That’s the best flight-posture photo and feather detail I’ve ever seen. Your bullet list of bird-in-flight photo quality details provides some worthy goals for the rest of us to try to achieve. I’ll feel great if I can just get more than one of the items listed in a single photo….let alone all five.
Steve, I feel pretty good when I can get a few or most of those items in a shot too. But dang it’s fun to get them all. Thank you.
Oh my goodness! Near perfection in every aspect. I really like your check-off list…very hard to achieve. For the heck of it I glanced through some of my past photos…NADA! Somethings were always missing and MOST often more than one item. Great achievement accomplished for you! Congrats!
“Somethings were always missing and MOST often more than one item”
That’s been my experience too, Kathy. It really hurts when you get all of them but one. It makes that single miss stand out like a sore thumb.
Not only perfect in every photographic aspect, I really loved the
very distinct look at the wing-anatomy—every feather almost
“diagramed”—-yet as lively as is possible in a still image. thanks !
Kris, for me what you describe is a big part of the appeal of photos like this one – the great look at each individual flight feather and even the coverts well defined.
And it’s a photo instead of a drawing or painting.
Fantastic shot. I like the vertical shot best I think!
Thanks, Joanne. I prefer the vertical too, because I like more sage in the shot for context and because I didn’t have to add canvas to achieve it.
Oh my word, that is a masterpiece of a shot! Wow, you really know how to knock it out of the park. I am so envious of your skills and that landscape shot is so decadent. It reminds me of a rich dessert!
“at the last moment he twisted his flight posture”…. this to me is striking it rich! 🙂
“at the last moment he twisted his flight posture”
I didn’t even know he’d done it until I looked at the photo on my camera screen. Then all I could hope for was that the bird was truly sharp but I couldn’t be sure of that until I looked at it on my computer. Thanks, Suzy.
That is an extra special shot and especially because it was taken naturally without aids of any kind. I have said from day one that what most attracted me to your site was your opening statement about what you DON’T DO to get great photos. Sunrises and sunsets are my two favorite times of the day. Beautiful shot.
Our Governor Ducey has shut us down except for essential travel and I guess that would include my going out to seek eagle photos etc.
Thank you, Everett.
I think I read earlier this morning that 37 states now have some form of shutdown and I expect that number will increase.
All of this. That sunset is amazing
I’m glad you like it. Thanks, Arwen.
Wow! Wow! Wow! A shot to dream about getting.
Thanks, Nancy. I dream about getting another one… 🙂
What a gorgeous shot. Of course we always want “more,” but in this case one certainly is enough. As an aside, I’ll add that your commitment to natural shots is one reason your photos are so appealing. It’s taken me some time, but I’m becoming more and more aware of the ‘tricks’ photographers use, either in the field or in post-processing, and I find that some of those tricks diminish my pleasure in a photo. I just learned today that some photographers will chill butterflies to slow them down. I suppose that’s fine, as long as the butterfly’s not harmed, but there’s something about it that leaves me a little uneasy — or at least disappointed. A personal quirk, no doubt, but a long way of saying I like your approach.
“I’m becoming more and more aware of the ‘tricks’ photographers use”
They’re devious as hell aren’t they, Shoreacres. And they almost never disclose what they’ve done.
They “chill” more than butterflies and other insects. It’s commonly done with amphibians and reptiles too.
I get a chill around alligators, too, but that’s a different sort of experience!
WOW! Wonderful capture of the Sage Thrasher! Beautiful feather detail and including the “environment”….. 🙂 Sunset beautiful – I LOVE sunrise/sunset. Miss the banner of “the place” in this new format…… 😉
Thanks, Judy. I miss that rotating banner too.