![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/prairie-falcon-9408-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"prairie-falcon-9408-ron-dudley.\\"")
<\/p>\nPerched, taking off and in flight.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Yesterday morning I found this Prairie Falcon in the west desert. When I first got ‘him’ in my viewfinder the sun was still a few seconds away from beginning to rise above the mountains to the east so there was almost no light on the falcon and with the light sky background those photos looked awful. By the time I took this photo the bottom of the sun’s orb had just barely cleared the mountains but through the smoke on the horizon there still wasn’t much light on the bird and the light that did exist had a color cast from the smoke.<\/p>\n It was an unattractive perch so I wanted takeoff and flight shots which meant using a high ISO to get the shutter speed I needed. But I had very little hope of success because the falcon was facing away from me so I’d most likely only get butt shots when and if he took off.<\/p>\n But this time the fickle photography gods gave me a break.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n When he took off he unexpectedly and very quickly twisted in my direction. This could have been a very nice shot if the shadow from his right wing hadn’t covered his eye<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But my break finally came with the next shot in the burst. As he continued turning in my direction he gave me a nice head turn with eye contact and a catch light, flared tail and and his body tilted to catch some nice light on most of his dorsal surfaces.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Two frames later I got another shot I like, mostly for the same reasons. For this photo I had to add canvas on the right because he was too close to the frame edge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n In this last photo he’s beginning to level out and turn on his falcon afterburners. I got four more shots of him with no body parts clipped or cut off but in those photos he was either a little soft or the shadow from his right wing covered his eye. Or both.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I didn’t encounter many cooperative birds yesterday but it was good to get out again and of course I was delighted to find a Prairie Falcon, even in the smoky light.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Perched, taking off and in flight.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/prairie-falcon-9409-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"prairie-falcon-9409-ron-dudley\\"")
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