First time photographing these grouse. Sunrise gave the birds backlight, windy and cold, with snow covered ground, in western Colorado. I was shooting from a car as a blind, windows down, engine off. It was great to see them, even at a distance.
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Overall composition, sharpness.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon R6, Canon Rf 100-500mm lens @ 500mm F-13, ISO 10000. Not sure why I had F-13.
Hand held, braced on edge of window. Did use Topaz AI.
Hi John, great pose of this bird. Love the upright, spread tail and erect posture. The environmental setting is nice. Image quality on the bird makes me think that this was a substantial crop.
Nice job, John. These birds are diddicult to portray dramatically, despite their energetic displays. Those yellow air sacs just don’t pop the way some species do and the head just seems to disappear. You did a fine job with this one with excellent detail and a great angle.