Tag: low light

Juvenile Burrowing Owl – Wing Exercises

I simply can’t resist posting a couple of more images of  juvenile Burrowing Owls that were taken last week.   1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc It may look like this bird has lost its balance on the sage and is trying to regain it but I believe it was simply exercising its wings.  It flapped and fluttered for quite a while – long enough for me to get several dozen images of the action (I saved 18 of them).     1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I do wish there’d been a bit more light though.  The sun ducked behind a cloud just as just as this youngster started flapping.  Should’a heard Mia cussing that cloud!  As per usual, I kept my cool and just went with the flow.  🙂 Actually, we’ve both been known to cuss clouds on occasion but I’m much better at it than she is.  She just doesn’t have my enthusiasm.  Or originality… Ron  

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Just A Shot That I Like… #22 – Wet And Bedraggled Prairie Falcon

For several months this winter this young Prairie Falcon would hang around the Antelope Island causeway in the early mornings hunting ducks (mostly Northern Shovelers).  There’s very few ducks there now so the falcon spends most of its time on the island (rather than on the causeway) hunting Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks.  Since falcons are much more difficult to approach in the wide open expanses of the island I doubt I’ll get any more closeups of this bird anytime soon.      1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4 On this mostly cloudy morning the light was poor but shortly after I approached this bird there was just enough sun coming through a thin spot in the clouds to give me some light in the eyes.  Some of the lower feathers of the falcon were wet and bedraggled which I assume was caused by hunting ducks in the shallows of the lake. I’m always delighted whenever I can get close enough to one of the larger falcons that I can remove my teleconverter.  To say that doesn’t happen very often is huge understatement. Ron

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