![\"red-tailed-hawk-4226b-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-4226b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/3200, 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>\nI photographed this juvenile in mid-September in Clark County, Idaho just as it touched down on the old pole. I have a strong attraction for photos of landing raptors because they’re hard to get and as a result we don’t see many of them. I like the timing of this shot and the nice light on most of the ventral surfaces of the bird. For me there’s just enough light in the eye for\u00a0the image to work and\u00a0I think the missing insulator only adds to the appeal because of its implication of age.<\/p>\n
Regular readers know I’ve despised poles and wires in my images from the get-go and some of you have given me\u00a0grief for my pickiness. To be honest the only reason I was even photographing these hawks on the poles was so I could get them in flight just before landing or just after takeoff\u00a0(I could\u00a0 crop out the poles if I had to). But these particular poles are\u00a0ancient and weathered and the insulators are the old-fashioned kind so I gritted my teeth and posted a shot of a red-tail landing on a different but similar pole <\/a>a couple of months ago. Friend Jerry Liguori pointed out that these very old poles are abandoned railroad poles carrying low voltage signal lines (there were RR tracks adjacent to them)\u00a0and other readers noted that the insulators are antique collectibles.<\/p>\n Since that time my images of this bird and others on the poles have grown on me. A lot. To the point that I actually cropped this image to feature the pole, crossbeam and insulators (the bird is fairly small in the frame and I’ve cropped to the end of the beam). Without input from readers I’d have probably kept this image but it never would have seen the light of day.<\/p>\n Don’t tell me you can’t teach an old dog (or an\u00a0old photographer) new tricks!<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: Sharp-eyed readers may notice that this\u00a0hawk is probably the same\u00a0bird as the one in the linked post in my text.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blog followers know I have a strong aversion for power poles and wires in my images. But thanks to input from readers I’ve had a change of heart when the poles are ancient and the insulators are the old-fashioned kind.<\/p>\n