![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-9249-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-tailed-hawk-9249-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nYesterday an old problem reared its ugly head again. A problem I thought I’d solved.<\/p>\n
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1\/6400, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Early in the morning a truck hauling hay approached from in front of me and spooked this adult Red-tailed Hawk out of a tree next to the dirt road I was on. I’d spotted the hawk in the tree only seconds before ‘she’ spooked so the series of flight photos I got were grab shots. I didn’t realize that she had a vole in her talons until I got home and looked at my photos on the big screen.<\/p>\n I could appreciate the photo a lot more if it were sharper. It should be sharp but it isn’t and that becomes even more apparent at a larger size than this. It’s actually the sharpest shot I got in the series. I’m confident that the softness was caused by temperature disparity between my lens and the outside air – a common problem I thought I’d largely solved by bundling up in warm clothes, using my seat warmers and keeping the interior of my pickup, and thus my lens, uncomfortably cold.<\/p>\n It’s worked in the recent past but not yesterday. Outside temps varied between 10\u00b0 and 22\u00b0 F. and I kept my lens cold the entire time but the vast majority of my photos were softer than they should have been. Some were eye-wateringly soft. That hurt because I had good opportunities with Bald Eagles in flight (an adult and an immature bird) and Gray Partridges foraging in snow and in flight. All of those photos, and others with potential, are garbage.<\/p>\n So I’m back to square one. And discouraged. And suddenly anticipating spring and warmer temperatures even more than I was the day before.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Addendum:<\/em><\/p>\n There’s no rhyme or reason I can see to explain the pattern of sharp and soft photos I got yesterday.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 400, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n About the only truly sharp shots I got were of this Rough-legged Hawk. Photos taken earlier in the morning than this, when it was colder, were soft. As were photos taken later than this when it was warmer. And I kept my lens “cold” the entire time. <\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-9363b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rough-legged-hawk-9363b-ron-dudley\\"")
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