Plus an update on my problems with my older teleconverter and my final strategy for a remedy.
Stunning flight shots of owls don’t come easy so the pain is real when we screw them up simply because we make a poor decision.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Many birds have favorite perches and this speed limit sign is definitely a favorite of this particular Short-eared Owl. I’ve found ‘him’ perched here on my last three trips to the area.
And he doesn’t mind the occasional vehicle going by, even if it’s big and noisy. The first time I spotted him on the sign several weeks ago I wasn’t yet close to him when a truck pulling a cattle trailer and spewing clouds of dust from the gravel road approached from the opposite direction and passed within about 10′ of the owl. I couldn’t believe it when he barely flinched.
This is the same owl on the same sign a week ago today. Even though he likes to perch on the sign and I’m glad he has it to hunt from it isn’t my favorite perch aesthetically so my goal was takeoff and flight shots, if he ever took off after prey while I was there. I was just a little too close to have a good chance to keep him in frame with my teleconverter on but I remembered that I’d already removed it for an earlier photo opportunity so I was good to go.
The problem is I remembered wrong.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
My teleconverter was still attached to my camera so I clipped or cut off body parts in all of the best photos of him in flight. Otherwise several of them would have been excellent shots.
Short-eared Owls are unusually difficult to find this year so it’s very possible, even likely, that I won’t have another opportunity with this much potential anytime soon.
Another rookie mistake, even after almost 13 years of photographing birds. Even veteran photographers have to keep their wits about them in the field and this time mine escaped me. All bird photographers, veterans or not, are guilty of such lapses but having company doesn’t remedy any of the pain.
The best we can hope for is that we learn from our mistakes and reduce their frequency.
Ron
Note: After I saw the photo in yesterday’s post that so clearly showed the lateral wear on my teleconverter’s electrical contacts (which I couldn’t see with the naked eye) I decided it made little sense to wait any longer to replace my tc. So yesterday I purchased a new one from a local camera shop and sent my old one off to Canon for repair.
I should soon know for sure if that clears up my intermittent issues with focusing and marginally soft shots.
If the ultimate goal is to always get the entire bird…or whatever creature…in every shot that’s one thing. But a photo that good otherwise still has lots of potential. A close crop of just the head and a bit of the body, for example, would be a very powerful image. I am undisciplined when it comes to culling. I find myself saving even some of the worst picts because I occasionally go back and I’ll see some little detail I may have missed before that–when isolated, highlighted–makes a pleasing “final” product. A much more competent photographer than I was once looking over my shoulder as I was pitching out images long ago. I was just ready to press delete on one that had multiple obvious shortcomings when he said, “no, you want to keep that one”. While skeptical I did keep it, printed several and mounted them. Of all the photos I’ve put out for sale that one image–a “discard”–has sold more prints than any other. Sometimes we are our own worst judges.
I had a BKAC (between keyboard and chair) error — also known as an ID-10-T error — this morning. I got out of and re-entered my Zoom meeting 4 times before I realized I had my mute button on.
It’s only a nickel for me too…
I absolutely love this perch for the Shortie. All he needs is a tiny radar gun. 😀
“All he needs is a tiny radar gun”
I like that idea, Marty. And it would give me a creative outlet for my inner urge to ‘Photoshop’ my photos!
Oh that would be fun! All anthropomorphizing all day! 🙂
The Owl shots are great. What’s really bugging me is that you clipped the sign. Do you know how many words end in EED? Feed, seed, heed…I’ll be wondering all day.
Lyle, I thought about taking some shots from further back that included the entire sign. Probably should have.
The sign said SPEED LIMIT 40… 🙂
Even with the amputations that is one glorious bird (and shot). I do feel your pain though. If I had even 50 cents for every stupid mistake I made I would be a very, very wealthy woman (so long as I remembered where I had put that money – or the password to access it).
Ha, you’re only an amateur at rookiness, EC. I wouldn’t need 50 cents per pop – about a nickel oughta do it.
My new motto is to NEVER put something important in a “safe” place … especially computer passwords. LOL
Don’t feel bad about your rookie mistakes, Ron. Compare it to my own. Last night I had cleaned my camera sensor and wanted to see if the dust was gone. I took a picture of a light-colored wall, knowing it would turn out medium gray if the sensor was clean, and medium gray with a smear of darker gray if the sensor were still dirty. But the photo turned out BLACK. I made sure the lens was on, checked the f-stop and exposure time to be sure there was enough light, etc., etc. Then I took another round of photos. Still black. After a few minutes of serious thought, I checked the only answer lerft: Yes, I had left the lens cap on!
We all can and do get creative with our rookie mistakes can’t we, Nancy!
Beautiful even with clipped wings!
I’ll admit it, April – I like it too, even with clipped wings.
I love the first shot. It just makes me smile.
Good. Thanks, Arwen.
Beautiful shots. I so love the thick velvety legs and feet of owls.
Thank you, Cathy.
Excellent photo even with the cutoffs. I don’t use the high tech equipment you do nor do I have the years of experience, but I think the mistakes continue day after day no matter how simple or complicated your photography is. When I come home and load the photos onto the computer I am often saying to myself – damn, how could you have missed that or why didn’t you move so you could have gotten a better angle, or you knew you should have put a filter on for that shot, or you knew you needed to slow down and be sure you were focused, and on and on. Rarely am I 100% satisfied with my efforts, but still love it.
Very well said, Everett.
No, having company on faulty memory like this is NOT really helpful! 😉 Still a beautiful bird…. Sharp, bright eye draws me in and the wind positions showing both upper and lower a bit plus the body …………VBG! 🙂
Finally hopped to it with rain last night – .8″ after dinking around with .2 for the whole day and about that the day before. Of course, much of it runs when that happens ………bitch, bitch, bitch……. 😉
Farmers are never happy – too much rain, too little rain, rains too hard too fast, freezes and turns into “hard rain” – etc, etc, etc. I remember… 🙂
Thanks, Judy.