a photo of some of those Chukars<\/a><\/span><\/span> two days ago). So I spent the next 15 minutes driving very slowly forward as I attempted to encourage some of the Chukars off the road and into better light so I could photograph them in natural habitat – without success.<\/p>\nBy the time my extended exercise in frustration with the Chukars was over, my bladder was about to explode. So I stopped at an appropriate spot on the isolated dirt road, got out and started to relieve myself while I was standing between my open door and the inside of my pickup while my lens was sitting almost within reach on my lens caddy about three feet away.<\/p>\n
I’m thinking you can guess what happened next.<\/p>\n
Sure enough, while I was standing there taking a leak, I spotted a young magpie flying directly at me. While I was otherwise occupied, I just knew ‘he’ was going to land very close to me and in good light, just out of spite.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-8136-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"black-billed-magpie-8136-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n
1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\nAnd that’s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n
He landed so close I knew I’d barely be able to fit him in the frame, even if I did have my lens in my hand. So I decided to finish my business, knowing he’d fly off if I reached for my lens. But he didn’t. I took the time to completely empty my bladder, grab my lens and aim it out the window of my open pickup door while I was still standing on the road.<\/p>\n
So here we are, just staring at each other. He allowed me enough time to get 16 photos of him before he flew off, but of course he was way too close for me to get any takeoff or flight shots without cutting off body parts.<\/p>\n
I won’t soon forget how frustrating it was to be standing there with the magpie so close and in good light and me with the wrong tool in my hands.<\/p>\n
At least I got some shots before he left.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
PS – I anticipate that “Tales From The Field” will become an ongoing, if irregular, feature on Feathered Photography. We’ll see how that goes.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sometimes the story of the photo is better than the photo itself.<\/p>\n
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