![\"swainson's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/swainsons-hawk-8076-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nYesterday morning I inadvertently flushed this Swainson’s Hawk off prey as I drove a remote dirt road in the Centennial Valley.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n It had been very close to the road but it was hidden in the grasses so the first I saw of the bird was when it took off for a flight of only a few feet to get over the fence next to the road where it landed again. I stopped to watch the hawk but the wire of the fence was between me and the bird so I almost didn’t even raise my lens – in my experience wire between me and my subject invariably ruins the shot.<\/p>\n But in the end I watched it through my lens and couldn’t resist firing off a few shots despite the wire – this is one of them. When I reviewed my images I was amazed that I could see no trace of the wire, even though it was in front of the hawk and ran horizontally across its body. I think a combination of factors allowed that to happen:<\/p>\n These factors gave me very little depth of field and “softened” the wire to the point that it can’t be seen. Those with a more discerning eye than I have may be able to detect it but I can’t…<\/p>\n So for me this was another lesson learned – objects in front of the subject don’t necessarily ruin the image if you have a very narrow depth of field and that object isn’t particularly close to the bird.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – after this shot was taken the hawk walked through the fence, retrieved its prey (a vole I believe) and flew off with it.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday morning I inadvertantly flushed this Swainson’s Hawk off prey as I drove a remote dirt road in the Centennail Valley.<\/p>\n\n