This is a male cardinal landing on a tree stump in south Texas. When the wing feathers spread, they become translucent and even the most subtle backlighting makes them appear to be glowing. The key to capturing birds in flight is 1) a fast frame rate (at least 12 fps), 2) a fast shutter speed to freeze even the wing tips (I recommend 1/3200), 3) fast autofocus, 4) anticipation of the birds' direction of flight and, if possible, 5) pro-capture or pre-burst technology. In Canon's new R5 Mark II (available supposedly in September), the company finally incorporated this. It's what I've been waiting for. This feature allows you to shoot at a fast frame rate before a bird flies. The camera continually trashes the frames in which no action occurs. When you release the shutter button when the bird flies, the last 15 frames (in Canon) will be retained. Thus you can catch every nuance of the take-off without needing lighting fast hand-eye coordination reflexes. This shot is from my Texas Birds Workshop in which we shoot from blinds to get intimate flight shots of exotic birds like green jays and crested caracaras. The next workshop is May, 2025.
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