![\"sage](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sage-thrasher-2915-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nYet another example of the role of Lady Luck in bird photography.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0\u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I photographed this Sage Thrasher three days ago\u00a0in Wayne County, Utah.\u00a0The bird wasn’t very close but I was enjoying its melodious song and as I did so I decided to watch it through my lens,\u00a0partly because\u00a0it was one of the few Sage Thrashers I found during the entire 5 day camping trip. The only chance I had for an interesting image or two of\u00a0the bird\u00a0was at take-off and that chance was a long one, especially at this distance.<\/p>\n I’m providing these first two images primarily for context.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Though the first shot after take-off was sharp and had a good wing position the bird was a little too small in the frame for my tastes.\u00a0But\u00a0in the next frame the thrasher pulled off one of those lightening-quick flight maneuvers that are so very difficult to capture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc,\u00a0canvas added for composition,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n The bird did a quarter-turn in a nanosecond and I happened to catch a flight posture that I really like.<\/p>\n Every time I look at this series I’m duly impressed by how incredibly\u00a0quick these birds are. By using one of the dried flower stems as a marker\u00a0the viewer can determine how far the bird has traveled\u00a0in the\u00a0last two images.\u00a0That distance is less than a body length, which I think is pretty impressive considering the dramatic change in flight posture. I won’t attempt to list all of the elements of luck involved with this shot but two of the primary ones were the head turn with open beak and good eye contact given the body position and the fact that this posture significantly increases the size of the bird in the frame.<\/p>\n And I’ll admit to a certain amount of satisfaction that I was able to get this shot without using a setup (something I never do). Many pro and advanced amateur bird photographers work with\u00a0elaborate setups (bait, multiple artificial perches,\u00a0electronic calls, flash\u00a0and even artificial backgrounds) with results similar to this image as\u00a0their goal. Examples of setup bird photography can be seen in these two video clips\u00a0–\u00a0finch setup<\/a> and woodpecker setup<\/a>. The clips aren’t short but some may have the interest anyway.<\/p>\n Personally,\u00a0I prefer to go\u00a0“au naturel” even though it\u00a0significantly reduces my chances of getting an image like this and increases my reliance on Lady Luck. After all, “nature” photography is my goal…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yet another example of the role of Lady Luck in bird photography.<\/p>\n![\"sage](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sage-thrasher-2920-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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