![\"long-billed-curlew-2050\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/long-billed-curlew-2050.jpg\" "\\"long-billed-curlew-2050\\"")
<\/p>\nWhen Long-billed Curlews take off they have a little trick they use to get airborne quickly.\u00a0 This is our largest\u00a0North American shorebird and in addition to their extremely long bill they have very long legs.\u00a0 Since this is a grassland species it would often be very difficult to get a\u00a0 running start at take-off through the tall vegetation so they use their long legs to full advantage by crouching so low that their belly often touches the ground and then they\u00a0spring into the air by quickly straightening those very long legs (jumping).<\/p>\n
This can be problematic for the photographer wishing to get take-off shots because this is a large bird and they\u00a0explode into the air so quickly that you tend to either cut off part of the bird or lose focus on the\u00a0subject\u00a0at the most critical point of the take-off.\u00a0 But knowing and anticipating their behavior can give you a better chance at a quality shot or two.<\/p>\n
These three\u00a0images from yesterday on Antelope Island\u00a0are sequential in a quick burst at take-off.\u00a0 The first two\u00a0are of crappy quality but I include them to illustrate my point.<\/p>\n
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Here the curlew has crouched as low as it can get prior to take-off.\u00a0 I temporarily lost sharp focus on the head because of the foreground vegetation and because of camera movement as I moved my aim upwards in an attempt to get\u00a0the entire bird in the\u00a0frame as it lifted off.<\/p>\n
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![\"long-billed-curlew-2051\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/long-billed-curlew-2051.jpg\" "\\"long-billed-curlew-2051\\"")
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In the second shot of the burst, focus has locked onto the bird again as it begins to rise above the grasses.<\/p>\n
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![\"long-billed-curlew-2052\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/long-billed-curlew-2052.jpg\" "\\"long-billed-curlew-2052\\"")
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\u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n And focus stayed locked on as the bird erupted from the\u00a0vegetation.\u00a0 Because I had moved my aim upwards and slightly to the right I didn’t clip any body parts and there was room in the frame\u00a0to the right to crop to a composition I liked.\u00a0 Yes, I did clip the wings in some of the other shots in the burst but I consider it a success to get even one nice\u00a0image in a situation like this.\u00a0 Take-off shots aren’t easy because so darn many things have to go right to get a quality image but knowing the behavior of your subject can drastically improve your odds of getting a few “keepers”.<\/p>\n And I do like this shot, though\u00a0with the head poking out between the wings it certainly is unconventional and may not have broad appeal.\u00a0 Probably a matter of taste…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Long-billed Curlews take off they have a little trick they use to get airborne quickly.\u00a0 This is our largest\u00a0North American shorebird and in addition to their extremely long bill they have very long legs.\u00a0 Since this is a grassland species it would often be very difficult to get a\u00a0 running start at take-off through the tall vegetation so they use their long legs to full advantage by crouching so low that their belly often touches the ground and then they\u00a0spring into the air by quickly straightening those very long legs (jumping). This can be problematic for the photographer wishing to get take-off shots because this is a large bird and they\u00a0explode into the air so quickly that you tend to either cut off part of the bird or lose focus on the\u00a0subject\u00a0at the most critical point of the take-off.\u00a0 But knowing and anticipating their behavior can give you a better chance at a quality shot or two. These three\u00a0images from yesterday on Antelope Island\u00a0are sequential in a quick burst at take-off.\u00a0 The first two\u00a0are of crappy quality but I include them to illustrate my point. Here the curlew has crouched as low as it can get prior to take-off.\u00a0 I temporarily lost sharp focus on the head because of the foreground vegetation and because of camera movement as I moved my aim upwards in an attempt to get\u00a0the entire bird in the\u00a0frame as it lifted off. In the second shot of the burst, focus has locked onto the bird again as…<\/p>\n