![\"rough-legged](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-5263-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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>\nSoon after takeoff he banked enough to give me an excellent look at his entire ventral surface and as a bonus he turned his head back to look at me which gave me\u00a0both eye contact and light in the eye. I\u00a0love the curved arch of his wings and the beautiful underside colors and patterns. This is one of my few images of any raptor\u00a0that shows the two\u00a0alulae (bastard wings) being held at dramatically different angles.<\/p>\n
The chance at a shot like this is one of the (many) reasons I prefer to shoot with the sun low in the sky (usually mornings). Much later in the day and the underside of this bird would have been completely shaded (although some of the light under the wings of this bird was reflected from snow).<\/p>\n
This flight posture is similar to those I\u00a0often see in the photos of others who use setups to manipulate the behavior of their subjects. I refuse to use setups so on those rare occasions when I get a flight pose like this I’m thrilled.<\/p>\n
The image isn’t perfect. Ideally the top of his head wouldn’t be shaded and the hawk is slightly less than tack sharp when viewed at 100%. But I can live with those relatively minor\u00a0imperfections.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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Yesterday morning I had to drive about 100 miles north before I escaped the foggy, smoggy mess in the valleys that we call air during these extended inversions. This beautiful hawk was one of my rewards.<\/p>\n