{"id":61639,"date":"2018-07-28T05:07:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-28T11:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=61639"},"modified":"2018-07-28T08:06:01","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T14:06:01","slug":"goldfinches-and-testing-the-speed-of-your-reflexes-and-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/28\/goldfinches-and-testing-the-speed-of-your-reflexes-and-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"Goldfinches And Testing The Speed Of Your Reflexes – And Mine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you ready for a test of the speed of your reflexes? I’ve come up with what I\u00a0hope my readers will find is a fun and interesting little experiment\u00a0that will demonstrate how quick you have to be to photograph a small bird as it’s taking off. We’ll even see how I did with the same test.<\/p>\n

I do hope you’ll participate but of course it’s up to you and I’m fine with your decision either way.<\/p>\n

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1\/1000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I headed up into the Wasatch Mountains again to see if I could find a bird or two but I had very little luck. I couldn’t even find\u00a0the Say’s Phoebes I photographed the day before.<\/p>\n

This male American Goldfinch was the most cooperative bird I photographed.\u00a0It was a cloudy morning until about a half hour after I took this shot so I didn’t have direct sunlight on him but I think that worked out just fine with such a bright yellow bird. Direct sunlight would have made proper exposure more difficult. It’s a simple shot but the bird was fairly\u00a0close, I like the curved perch and\u00a0I find the greens in the background from the far side of the canyon\u00a0refreshing after all the dry, tan backgrounds I get down in the valley.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

The day before (the same day I photographed the phoebes) we found this male goldfinch on a Musk Thistle flower with most of its seeds already eaten by birds (presumably). The bird wasn’t close so this image has been cropped significantly. In fact I probably would never have posted it if I hadn’t devised this little test of reflexes that I hope many of my readers will participate in.<\/p>\n

But first let’s begin\u00a0with some background and some simple directions..<\/p>\n

Sometimes it may seem to followers of my blog that I’m obsessed with takeoff shots and maybe I am. For me their appeal is twofold –\u00a0the dynamic\u00a0postures of birds during the process and the high degree of difficulty which challenges my skills and helps me to grow as a photographer. And as I’ve pounded into the ground here on Feathered Photography they\u00a0nearly always require\u00a0quick reflexes to get with little birds (larger birds are much easier because they’re so much slower).<\/p>\n

So let’s see\u00a0just how<\/em>\u00a0quick you\u00a0have to be. First I’ll show you how I did when this bird took off and then you’ll have your chance with the same bird in virtually the same situation.<\/p>\n

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Here’s the full frame (uncropped) version of the previous image. Showing it full frame demonstrates to viewers how much room I had in every direction to keep the bird in frame immediately after it took off, no matter what direction it headed. Since he was quite\u00a0small in the frame to begin with I actually had more room than I usually do. When he took off I hadn’t already begun firing a burst so getting the shot really depended on my reflexes since I waited until he began his launch to push the shutter.<\/p>\n

Any predictions? Do you think I was able to keep part of him or all of him in frame on the first click of my shutter?<\/p>\n

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Yeah, I did but it’s a crappy shot. He’s too close to the bottom of the frame\u00a0to get a pleasing composition when I crop the image and the goldfinch is soft. But I still consider\u00a0my performance a bit of a victory\u00a0because I was able to keep him\u00a0in frame. Most times I can’t. So let’s see how you do in the same situation.<\/p>\n

Many readers know that my best friend Mia McPherson is\u00a0often photographing the same birds I am from the back seat\u00a0of my pickup. She chose to shoot video with this bird while I was shooting stills and she posted the clip of the takeoff\u00a0on her own blog. She was\u00a0using a cropped sensor camera, a 1.4 teleconverter and a 500mm lens like I was so the size of the bird in the frame would have been almost exactly the same for both of us. That means you can have the same chance at catching this bird in frame when it takes off as I did and I’ll explain how.<\/p>\n

Here’s the link to her post<\/a>. (please don’t go there yet – read my entire post before you try the experiment). All you have to do to simulate my situation with my camera with the same bird is place your mouse cursor\u00a0on the pause\u00a0button at bottom left of her clip\u00a0and pretend it’s a shutter button. When the bird takes off see if you can click on the pause\u00a0button fast enough to keep it in frame. Be as ready for it as you can because it happens very quickly.<\/p>\n

The first time you try it is the most important one because it best\u00a0replicates my situation. I didn’t know when it would take off and neither should you. After you’ve watched the clip once the timing of takeoff is easier to anticipate. But after the first attempt\u00a0you might want to try it several times more like I did. I predict you’ll find that it isn’t easy, even after several attempts. I’d say you were successful if you were able to keep the entire bird in frame when the video stopped.<\/p>\n

And if you can do that I’d also say you have very quick reflexes. Or you just got lucky but there’s sure as hell nothing wrong with luck when it comes to bird photography! I’d be up that proverbial creek without\u00a0a paddle without my share of good luck.<\/p>\n

So I wish you luck! And I’d be interested to know how you did if you decide to participate and don’t mind sharing.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n