![\"yellow-rumped-warbler-5336-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/yellow-rumped-warbler-5336-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/6400, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nLate in the afternoon I\u00a0visited a local\u00a0park near my home to photograph Yellow-rumped Warblers. These birds use a mostly dead tree next to a pond\u00a0as a launching platform to hawk insects flying over the pond and yesterday that tree was literally dripping with butterbutts. In order to photograph them I have to park on the edge of a road and shoot over a high wooden fence (a smaller, lower vehicle wouldn’t work in this location)\u00a0and these birds are so acclimated to traffic on the road they pay no attention to me in my pickup even though I’m\u00a0quite close to them.<\/p>\n
But three times during the hour I was there someone came along on foot and walked very close to my pickup. Each time the birds reacted by either flying away or burying themselves in the far side of the tree and it would take them a few minutes to return to closer shooting distances. And as I was ready to leave I opened my door slightly as a test to see if the birds would react. Just as I expected – most of them vamoosed. If I had been trying to photograph these birds on foot I’d likely have been spittin’ into the wind.<\/p>\n
I’ve been crowing about the advantages of shooting from a vehicle for years – long enough that Audubon Magazine got wind of it and published an article in their current issue about the techniques and equipment I use for doing so. Here’s\u00a0a\u00a0link<\/a> to the online version of the article\u00a0if you’re interested.<\/p>\n There’s also a link in the article to a more extensive and\u00a0detailed blog post I’ve published on the subject.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: My shutter speed for this shot was incredibly fast. But I’ve learned from shooting in this location as these flitty little birds richochet in and out of dark and light places that I’m better off erring on the high side so I have enough shutter speed when they’re in shade. Two days ago the image that was potentially my favorite photo out of 900+ images was soft because I didn’t have enough shutter speed for the situation.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday I was once again impressed by how well using a vehicle as a mobile blind works when compared to shooting on foot.<\/p>\n