GIF Shot

[Birdsong]

Goldie in flight that is. I think she was trying to look in the window to see if the pix were in yet from the Sax-Zim bog expedition.

[Dbl]

Wow, nice capture! That is something you don't see everyday!

[Jim Almquist]

Very Cool shot - Sure hoe the little guy was able to stop in time

[finnbay]

Great timing on a great shot!

[dockothebay]

what a pretty shot! We did see some of her cousins up at the bog, not sure if we got any pictures tho

[JayinMN]

Great shot! Almost looks like a raptor about to dive on a mouse, except she is probably going for a sunflower seed...

[Steve Foss]

I love it when a perched bird takes off in mid burst. Nice work Sarah!

[ShawnZ]

I would be interested to see the techs for this totally awesome shot. Was a motion trap device used or did you just flat out nail this one? Great image!!

[mplspug]

I've been trying to sex the 5+ goldfinches coming to the thistle socks at the window and looking at this, I have to wonder if I have all juveniles and/or females, because none of them have that much yellow left. I thought the ones with the blacker black and whiter white bars were males.

[Birdsong]

I've been trying to sex the 5+ goldfinches coming to the thistle socks at the window and looking at this, I have to wonder if I have all juveniles and/or females, because none of them have that much yellow left. I thought the ones with the blacker black and whiter white bars were males.

I guess I have not given it a great deal of thought, except that I have been surprised with all of the goldie photos I have taken of late. They seem more yellow than I expect, and since I have not done any saturation, I wonder if it might have something to do with shooting through a closed window? Or I have one very yellow-headed finch doing all the posing.

Thanks for your comments everyone--very encouraging.

You've got to be kidding Shawn. I'm not sure what a motion trap even is. It was shot with the 40D and 28-135 IS lens (kit lens from 7D). Shot through glass window at 135mm. Some cropping. (I should have had the 100-300 on, but was experimenting to see if I could get more clarity from the other lens. ISO 640,Shutter speed 1/1600, aperture 5.6, +1/3 ex. comp.,one shot, single-shooting. Gorillapod (Christmas gift)and remote shutter release. Bird is actually a little closer than the branch, so a blip ahead of the focal plane. And yes, he did pull up before smacking. He was actually dropping to the bird bath. Some of us experience a steeper learning curve than others. Since finally figuring out the heat mirage effect of the open window (thanks MM, if I remember correctly), I was just playing around with shooting through glass. But placing the branch behind the bird bath is not the smartest thing I have ever done. Now I've got a mirage and steam. But it was fun and an opportunity to work on exposure. I just happened to be sitting there making another set of boots for the dog. Now I've been told I should be using manual focus for shooting through glass?