That’s a very tall order but over the years I did come close quite a few times by only missing one qualifier and the “vertical 90 degree bank” was usually my Achilles’ heel. I hope you’ll bear with me while I try to explain why photographing harriers in flight while they’re banking that<\/em> steeply<\/em> is so very difficult.<\/p>\n Keeping active focus points on a harrier in flight is\u00a0tough enough but when they bank steeply\u00a0it becomes instantly and\u00a0exponentially more challenging. Almost by definition banking causes them to\u00a0alter their trajectory or flight path and the steeper the bank the\u00a0more drastic the change\u00a0in\u00a0trajectory and the\u00a0more quickly it happens. It typically\u00a0occurs too fast for human reflexes to react and keep the focus points on the bird so the results are usually soft\u00a0images, clipped or cut off body parts or “air shots”. And\u00a0it’s yet another strike against you if the background is close to the bird because the focus points keep wanting to lock onto something behind the bird.<\/p>\n But on November 25, 2013 at Farmington Bay WMA I finally succeeded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The harrier had been coming toward me as it hunted low to the ground. It had been looking down as it approached but when it glanced up again it apparently decided it was a little too close to me for comfort\u00a0so it\u00a0instantly banked steeply in order to make a quick getaway. My shutter fired at just the right millisecond to catch it in the pose I was after and before my focus points lost their lock on the bird.<\/p>\n All of my qualifying conditions were met (the harrier isn’t quite perfectly vertical but it’s close enough for me) and I had the added bonuses of beautiful warm morning light and a good look at both partially deployed alulae (bastard wings).<\/p>\n I’m surprised that it took me as long as it did to get a shot like this and that I haven’t been able to do it again in the last four+ years. Perhaps it’s been my own personal curse but on that beautiful November morning at Farmington\u00a0it did feel good to finally get that monkey off my back..<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: I posted this\u00a0photo back on November 26, 2013 but for this edition of Feathered Photography I’ve reprocessed the image and hopefully I’ve done a better job of it this time.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It took me about six years to get a shot like this that met all my requirements and in the four years since then I haven’t been able to do it again.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/northern-harrier-4586-reprocessed-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n