![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-2851-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-tailed-hawk-2851-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nWe do what we have to do to get the shot (as long as it’s safe for both bird and photographer).<\/p>\n
Birds are unpredictable and fast and opportunities for good photos are often (usually?) hard to come by. So when an unanticipated chance at potentially interesting photos suddenly presents itself it behooves us to be prepared to respond instinctively and appropriately. And very quickly.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it even pays off.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Yesterday morning as I was driving along a lonely remote road this rufous Red-tailed Hawk approached my pickup from behind me and to my left. It was flying faster than I was driving and by the time I saw it I knew I had no time to stop before aiming my lens its way because by then the hawk would be long past me. So I simultaneously slowed down a little as I grabbed my camera from my lens caddy next to me, stuck my lens out the window and fired off a quick burst of nine shots in less than a second. Surprisingly I didn’t clip any body parts in any of them but most of them were slightly soft, or had unappealing flight poses or insufficient room in front of the bird.<\/p>\n But this single photo was sharp, I got a nice head turn from the hawk that allowed a catch light in the eye and I had enough room in front of the bird for a pleasing composition. By the time I took the photo it was mid-morning (10:04) so the light is a little harsh but to make up for it the sun angle provided an interesting shadow of the head and beak on the wing.<\/p>\n As I finished the burst I glanced down at my speedometer and noticed I was still traveling at 23 mph. It goes without saying that I would never attempt such a shot if there had been any chance of approaching traffic but it’s a remote road and I could see for great distances in both directions so I knew there were no other vehicles in the area.<\/p>\n I’ve used this quote before but it seems appropriate here so once again I’ll quote hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky:<\/p>\n “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Notes: <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We do what we have to do to get the shot (as long as it’s safe for both bird and photographer).<\/p>\n\n