![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-9423-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"wild-turkey-9423-ron-dudley.\\"")
<\/p>\nThe toms gave it their all but the hen seemed unimpressed.<\/p>\n
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1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Five days ago not long after sunrise I found a very large flock of Wild Turkeys on a ranch in northern Utah. There were quite a few adult toms in the flock and the way they were displaying would make one wonder if was springtime.<\/p>\n As is often the case with Wild Turkeys I had a hard time getting photos of individual birds that didn’t have vegetation or other turkeys, or both, in front of them. But when these two toms directed their display toward the hen in front of them I thought having her in the photo helped to tell the story, even though she partially blocked my view of them.<\/p>\n In the bird photography world there’s sort of an unwritten rule that says if there are several birds in the image it’s the bird in front that should be in the sharpest focus. But in some instances rules are meant to be broken and in my book this was one of them. So I focused on the toms, even knowing that the hen would be soft.<\/p>\n In hindsight I’m glad I made that choice, although I’ll admit to some curiosity about how the image would have turned out if I’d focused on the hen.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Addendum:<\/em><\/p>\n In response to Terri’s question below I’m including another version of the same photo where I’ve brought down the exposure of the head of the turkey on the right. It was a little overexposed in the first version of the photo. The difference is subtle but it’s there.<\/em><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-9423c-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"wild-turkey-9423c-ron-dudley\\"")
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