![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/belted-kingfisher-2991b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"belted-kingfisher-2991b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nThey say that a little motion blur can be a good thing because of the action it implies. I’m far from convinced that’s true but opinions may (or may not) vary.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this female about three years ago at a local pond. Here she had just swallowed the fish and then moved to this branch on the tree in order to clean her bill. I wanted to present this photo first just to prove that I do occasionally get the heads of my birds sharp… \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n The two photos that follow were taken a few moments earlier while she was trying to stun or kill the fish (a weather loach). I’ve never posted them before because of an issue that will become obvious.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/7.1, 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<\/p>\n She was furiously beating the fish against the branch. The wet spot on the branch is the spot where she was slamming the fish into it.<\/p>\n My shutter speed of 1\/1600 – 1\/1250 sec just wasn’t fast enough to get either her head or the fish sharp because both were moving so fast. I knew my SS was slow for the action but I chose not to take the time to change my settings for fear she’d fly off or something else would happen that would cause me to miss that proverbial “million dollar shot”. That was a mistake.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/7.1, 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<\/p>\n Here she’d moved to a different spot on the branch and her head was completely upside down as she twisted her neck to get the leverage and speed necessary to effectively dispatch her slimy, slippery prey. The head of the bird and the loach are a little sharper but they’re still soft and that drives me nuts.<\/p>\n Some folks claim that motion blur similar to this can actually be a positive because of the action\/movement it implies but my tastes have always been different and they continue to be. My instinct requires the parts of the bird involved in the action to be sharp and that’s why I usually error on the side of too much shutter speed rather than too little. I wish I had this time.<\/p>\n That said I still like seeing the behavior, even when in my eyes the photos have significant flaws, and that’s why I’m including them in today’s post.<\/p>\n Viewers may or may not agree.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" They say that a little motion blur can be a good thing because of the action it implies. I’m far from convinced that’s true but opinions may (or may not) vary.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/belted-kingfisher-2772-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"kingfisher-2772-ron-dudley\\"")
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