The gods have to be on our side to align bird, pose, sun and light for a shot like this.

I understand that not everone in Quebec's bird photography world enjoys this type of lighting, but after thousands of shots in standard light, it's fun to try something different and deviate from the norm. This kind of shot will probably be more appreciated by people in the arts community. I don't know how much longer my mangled knees will permit me to chase after these magic moments :-)

Also, I've been influenced by my painter wife and good friend and world-class wildlife photographer Andy Rouse the last couple of years.

Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation. No crop.

I selectively enhanced the orangy colour from the sun (in the upper left of the image) in the sky that was slightly blown out by the sensor. Two small branches clonned away at the bottom centre of the image, but for the purist, they could have probably stayed without much distraction.


Cheers,

Mike