The Moment of Attack

An impossible shot. All it took was observation, a couple of hours and over 1,000 frames. Very happy with this image. This happens so fast it is impossible to observe with the naked eye. What you are shooting at is the percentage, knowing that the conditions and the signals of the perched bird point to it.

A lot is made of fancy rigs to get these pictures. Usually complex flash setups and the like. I shoot these hand held at ISO 1,250 and F8 or F13 if there is enough light at 400mm. I like to have the exposure around 1/2,000 of a second. I take test shots for exposure, often settling at 1 stop over exposure. I don't like flash because it washes out nuance. To me the animation of this photo by shadow is part of its appeal. If flashed, it would be relatively flat.

The Moment of Attack