I spent yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains looking for raptors and other birds. I had my best luck with Red-tailed Hawks…
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
including this one near East Canyon Reservoir. The hawk was perched above me and I don’t much like this angle on the subject unless the bird takes off, which it did. The sky color in these shots is intensely blue but that’s often the case at these elevations (6000′) in the morning.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
The wing position in these first two images…
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
is almost identical but the bird has moved forward almost two feet in the interim. I find that the frame rate of my 7D is very often perfectly timed with the wing-beat speed of buteos as they take off. I wonder if I’ll get a little more variety in wing position when I get the new Cannon 7D Mark ll when it is released in a few days (Canon has moved up the release date from November 29 to October 30 and mine has been on order for weeks). The Mark ll has a burst rate of 10 frames/sec as opposed to 8 frames/sec for the older 7D.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I did get one image I liked with the wings down.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I cropped this one vertically to include the sagebrush at the bottom of the frame. The hawk then circled above me a couple of times…
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
and then landed at the top of the hill again but this time much further away. Here the bird is just about to fold its wings after touch down.
Ron
I especially love this series. REally your photos are awesome, thrilling, revealing to me what I would never be able to see otherwise. Thank you.
What glorious shots Ron!
Charlotte
Gorgeous series, and I love the sky color. I think I especially like the last one where the bird is landing.
I sure wish I’d been closer for that shot, Susan. I like how well the right wing is defined with it separated from the body like that.
And with the alulae showing so well…
Exactly. Those alulae are further extended than any I remember seeing.
I really like the third from last, with the wings down. The wings show the work being done in that position- no commonly found,and the eyes of course, show its focus.
Wasatch mountains and that blue sky- you are fortunate.
“Wasatch mountains and that blue sky- you are fortunate”.
It was a beautiful day up there, Justin.
Always enjoy seeing the red tailed hawks!
Me too, Leisa.
Looks like a young Hawk. Beautiful shots Ron.
Yup, I wondered about the age of this one with the juvie buff-yellow eyes but part of the tail going red (2nd image) as in adults. Thanks, Jean.
Fabulous. I really like the intense blue in that first one.
Thank you, Arwen. Some folks like those blues and others don’t.
Great images.
I can’t wait to see what you can do with the new 7D. Besides the increase of the burst rate the buffer depht has improved too. Now you can take more six raw images than the previous one. I am sure you will feel more comfortable doing those magnificent sequences.
Note – certainly due to tiredness you have duplicated the ISO settings on today’s images. Hope you don’t mind I am saying so.
Exactly, Jorge! I’m looking forward to so many things with this new camera, including the 31 RAW file buffer depth (that you mention) and the faster and more accurate focusing. I believe this camera will be a “dream machine” for wildlife and sports shooters and the price certainly seems reasonable to me. Sure hope I’m not disappointed by any production or software issues.
And thanks very much for the heads up on my image techs error (my excuse is not enough coffee…). Please never hesitate to point out mistakes like that! Fixed.
What a beautiful bird… I love the outstretched wings in the last frame.
Thank you, Alison. I almost didn’t include that image because the bird’s so small in the frame but I like that pose too.