![\"willet](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/willet-0139-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMany things can go wrong\u00a0when photographing birds at take-off and clipping wings is at or near the top of the list. The amount of room the photographer needs to allow for raised (or lowered)\u00a0wings is hugely deceiving.\u00a0Sure, you may catch the wings in a horizontal position without clipping them but that position is generally much less desirable.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I photographed this Willet yesterday morning at sunrise on Antelope Island. The bird was above me on some very large rocks and it had its back to me most of the time while it was perched so I knew my best chance for getting any shots that I liked would be at possible take-off. Here the bird has crouched to do just that.<\/p>\n But this version of the image is deceiving because of the way it’s cropped. If this was all that I could see through my viewfinder I most certainly would have clipped its\u00a0wings when the bird launched – there just isn’t enough room up top for the raised wings. Add two more variables to the equation, those long dangling legs and the fact that I don’t know at what angle the bird will take off (the elevated perch makes that even more of a guessing game) and the potential for clipped body parts becomes enormous.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n But this full frame (uncropped) version of the same image demonstrates how I framed the Willet for take-off. I raised my lens just enough to allow plenty of room up top for the raised wings and still keep some of my active focus points on the bird. At first glance one may think that I’ve left far too much room up top for the wings but that’s not the case.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n This was the result. This version is within a few pixels of being full frame\u00a0vertically so you can see that\u00a0those wings take up a lot of space when raised.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n The next shot in the sequence is 100% full frame vertically with no pixels removed. I have just enough space for a pleasing composition above and below the bird with no body parts clipped or cut off. True, there are other issues with both images (mostly involving background) but I believe they make my point.<\/p>\n Photographing birds at take-off is nearly always a tradeoff between being close enough to get good detail and far enough away optically to avoid clipping body parts. It’s a fine balance and even if\u00a0we\u00a0do everything “right” there are no guarantees\u00a0so the best the photographer can do is allow enough wiggle room for those raised wings and give ourselves the best chance possible for success.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many things can go wrong when photographing birds at take-off and clipping wings is at or near the top of the list. The amount of room the photographer needs to allow for raised (or lowered) wings is hugely deceiving. Sure, you may catch the wings in a horizontal position without clipping them but that position is generally much less desirable.<\/p>\n![\"willet](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/willet-0139b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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