I found my FOY (first of year) Rough-legged Hawk yesterday morning but largely blew the photographic opportunity because of a rookie mistake in setting up my new 7D Mark ll.
I’ve been using “back button focus” on my two Canon 7D’s for years but it doesn’t come set up that way by default on a new Canon camera – settings must be changed to use it. When it’s set up properly the focusing task is removed from the shutter button and assigned instead to a rear button that is activated by the photographer’s right thumb. All the shutter does is wake up the camera with a half-press and fire the shutter with a full press. Back button focus is a matter of preference for the photographer but I like it and it’s thoroughly engrained in my muscle memory.
Like virtually all new DSLR users I changed a variety of settings on my Mark ll and thought I had done so correctly with back button focus. Because of lack of both opportunity and birds I hadn’t given the new camera much of a workout with birds in flight until yesterday morning when I headed southwest into remote Tooele County looking for raptors. I was shocked to see on my screen that most of my flight shots were noticeably soft. I didn’t figure out the problem until arriving home when I discovered that I had left the autofocus function assigned to both the shutter button and one of the back buttons instead of just the back button alone. The camera apparently became “confused” by the conflicting commands and was unable to effectively track birds in flight.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark ll, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, shot and processed in JPEG, wire removed, not baited, set up or called in
One of the victims of my stupid mistake was my first Rough-legged Hawk of the year and naturally it was a handsome and strikingly colored male (sexes are dimorphic in adult plumage). This shot is one of my sharpest images of the morning because I prefocused on the bird and it took off laterally to me so the plane of focus was about the same soon after take-off as it had been perched. It’s not a quality image because of its slight softness and the bird is slightly past me but I thought some might be interested in seeing this beautiful buteo.
Needless to say my error in setting up back button focus has now been corrected. No more excuses. Now all I need is some birds and some decent light for shooting but the forecast for the latter does not look particularly promising…
Ron
Thank you for this. I wasn’t sure why my eyes weren’t focusing then I read what you said about “softness” and it made sense. Still a handsome bird!
Thanks, Arwen.
A glorious sight to see. And yes, I have to say it – Love those britches.
You are a rookie with that camera, but won’t make that mistake again. Which is a plus.
Made me laugh, Elephant’s Child. I thought of you as soon as I saw those britches when I was processing the photo.
Wonderful hawk (and photo)! I never cease to be amazed at the variety of hawks’ feather coloration, patterns and distribution, and your photos allow me to really see the differences. And oh, those talons! So, no matter your difficulty with the camera on this occasion, I (and so many others) appreciate your effort.
Thanks very much, Chris.
The bird may have been past you, but it looks to me like you still got the catch light in the eye. This is a bird that I’ve never seen, so I’m glad you posted it. He is gorgeous.
Agreed, Susan. He’s a handsome dude.
Wonderful flight shot Ron! Awww the learning curve.
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte. New learning curves can be a challenge, for sure.
Of course I like the shot, Roughies are one of my favorite hawks. And, if I was honest, that is all your fault Ron!!! Some of the first images that I saw that introduced me to your work was the weasel and the Rough-legged Hawk. Oh my was I hooked! Field Guides don’t even come close.
This hawk looks almost a cross between the dark and light phase. What do you think?
Plus, I see and hear it is going to get a tad cold in your area this week.
Good hunting!!
Dick, I thought light morph but I’ll leave that determination to others since color morphs aren’t my forte…
Actually the polar vortex is supposed to stay east of the Rockies so I think it’s going to miss us here in SLC. The lowest temps (nightly lows) I see for us next week are about 32 degrees F (time to get the trailer winterized) but the area of Montana where I grew up is supposed to hit 10 below zero on Tuesday. If they have their typical winds to go along with it it’s going to be miserable up there…