The catch light in the eye reveals blur while electronic sensor is writing the image while the subject is still moving (sensor readout speed).

[Martin Stu]

good picture

[5ks]

Very nice BIF capture. A good sense of movement, yet the eye being so sharp.

[MikeNArk]

That is one cool shot of the morning dove in flight. Got that one at the right time.

[fwithrow63]

Wow just wow great photo

[Lmcfarrin]

I use a custom feeder that I can move around through out my yard. I use a mic stand with iron base that can be raised and lowered ($15). I placed the mic stand on top of an iron patio table and I'm shooting from an upstairs window slightly above the top of my feeder (removed the screen). I have a black curtain that I cut slits out of and slip my lenses through the slits.
The dove is approximately 11 feet away but can't see me due to the curtain, but I can see through the slits. I purposely positioned it to allow my house shadow this time of day to partially overtake the feeder. As the shade would overtake the feeder, I would go outside and reposition it. I have shot like this routinely.

[Lmcfarrin]

Images.

Attached Images

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[MikeNArk]

Ingenious layout for covering all the angles.

[Lmcfarrin]

For those interested, I have a several page spread/appearance in BIRDING MAGAZINE, July 2021 Edition. I have a bio in the first couple of pages and my photos with captions appears on page 38 to page 45.

Birding Online July 2021 - American Birding Association

---------- Post added 12-17-21 at 03:17 PM ----------

Ingenious layout for covering all the angles.

Thanks, notice on one of the cameras near the mic stand: Pentax Limited 35MM 2.8 Macro

These pics are in the magazine, minus the red handwriting - so I show Pentax some love in the magazine.

[angkymac]

Really a nice picture!
Glad for your explanation regarding the shutter write speed of the catch light in flight.
Angky.

[Lmcfarrin]

These type of shots where distance varies and I need to adjust focal length, I use primarily my zoom lenses:

Oly 40-150 with 1.4 tc (56-210) , Tamron 70-200, Pentax 60-250, Panasonic 45-175, Takumar 200 F4, Irix 150MM (a tad bit longer than Oly 150 at 150MM

[reynb]

Nice shot and explanation of your setup. Thanks also for the Birding link.

[Martin Stu]

Images.

interesting

[Lmcfarrin]

Because the song birds are so small, to fill the frame as much as possible during composition requires the cameras to be at very close distances. Thus, the reason for tripods and triggers to get in closer. Once I manged to get in close, I could choose any lens that would manually focus. For the size of these birds using a 20mp camera, using focal lengths from 17mm to 400mm, my cameras are from 1.5 feet to 30 feet away from the feeder. Therefore, handholding one camera is very limiting in many ways.

A high megapixel camera like the 61mp Sony A7R IV has "gifts and curses." The sensor readout speed is slower than the cameras in my kit which will probably display greater distortion using electronic shutter. Frames per second is 10 vs. 20-60. Cost of camera and lens for 1 A7R IV would make this multi-camera process financially unreasonable. In short, higher resolution for me is not the answer.