So many factors have to work together perfectly to get good shots of a bird in flight—the lighting has to be right, the exposure needs to be correct, the shutter speed needs to be fast enough to stop the motion, and, most critically perhaps, the camera has to focus properly on the moving subject. Of course, it helps also to be able to capture the wings in an interesting position and to have a background that is not distracting.
I have been working on taking photos of birds in flight, especially Canada Geese, but it has been rare for me to get all (or even most) of the variables to fall into place at the same time. However, in late December I took a series of shots of a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) that turned out really well. The background was the sky, which some folks don’t find to be very interesting, but at least the goose was not obscured by branches. Click on the photos to see them in higher resolution—I was thrilled that I even managed to get a catchlight in the visible eye.
The challenge for me will be to repeat this success with smaller birds that fly faster and less predictably.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Wow, that top photo is so tight that I can see the goose’s bone structure. Really cool.
Thanks. We’re often told that we should fill the frame with our subjects and this was one time when I almost did so (there was a minor amount of cropping).
Spot on Mike. Well done 😀
How much did you crop the photo, Mike?
Practice makes … photos like these!
A terrific sequence. Congrats on your achievements!
I’d be real happy with those!
Oh, there is no question that I am happy with these shots–it’s hard to imagine that I can do much better with this kind of a shot for a goose, but I am hoping to be able to replicate this with other birds and improve my techniques to make that more likely,
Beautiful captures, love the blue background!