(Photos made with Olympus Micro Four Thirds Camera)

This is a short post meant to demonstrate something I teach all the time.

Here goes – the best wing position for a bird in flight is ANY position other than PANCAKE – meaning the wings go straight across.

Why? Because nobody buys the shots with the bird’s pancaked wings. At least not many people do – I rarely sell images with the wings in this position.

I am using two eagle photos in this post to illustrate my point.

In the first photo, the eagle’s wings are outstretched in what I call the pancake position – straight out. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE this photo. I love everything about it – except – I have never licensed it. The one I have licensed was made at the same place and I think on the same day.

I realize that for most of you, the sheer thrill of photographing an eagle and capturing ANY wing position is just thrill enough. Unfortunately, I have expensive taste so I have to get paid for mine 🙂

There are rare exceptions to this rule but I share this post with one simple goal in mind. If you have a bird that you captured in a nice burst sequence and are trying to cull your images, select the pictures where the bird’s wings are up or down but not flat, and you’ll be doing yourself a favor.

I hope this helps.

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