{"id":38784,"date":"2016-04-12T05:58:28","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T11:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=38784"},"modified":"2016-04-12T05:58:28","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T11:58:28","slug":"curlews-im-changing-my-ways-when-photographing-them-at-takeoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/12\/curlews-im-changing-my-ways-when-photographing-them-at-takeoff\/","title":{"rendered":"Curlews – I’m Changing My Ways When Photographing Them At Takeoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m tired of blurry images of curlews taking off so I’m trying a new tack.<\/p>\n

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\"long-billed<\/p>\n

1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I love photographing Long-billed Curlews in the spring after they’ve returned from migration but they present a somewhat\u00a0unusual challenge when taking off. They’re large, relatively heavy-bodied birds so when they launch from the\u00a0ground they typically squat down for an\u00a0instant so they can use their long legs to help push them into the air. When they do it they squat so low that their belly almost touches the ground and their head and neck are also lowered.<\/p>\n

So here’s the problem. Imagine that you have your lens trained on this long-necked and long-legged\u00a0bird and its body language tells you it’s about to take off. Your active focus points are locked onto its head\/neck area and you’re ready to go when the bird is. But an instant before it launches it\u00a0squats down to push off and when it does you lose focus on the bird and lock on to the background instead. You miss the most dramatic wing positions because the bird is soft in those shots. If you’re lucky (very<\/em> lucky if the background is close to the bird)\u00a0you can reacquire sharp focus as the bird flies away but some of your best opportunities are already history.<\/p>\n

Time and time again that’s happened to me with curlews and I’m tired of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"long-billed<\/p>\n

1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And it’s exactly what happened with this curlew yesterday morning on Antelope Island. I was locked on before takeoff, it squatted and I lost focus, so the most dramatic shots at takeoff were soft. I was only able to reacquire sharp focus for this one shot.<\/p>\n

So, I’m going to try two new strategies depending on the situation:<\/p>\n