![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/wild-turkey-6620-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"wild-turkey-6620-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nI believe this is the only banded Wild Turkey I’ve ever photographed. I can read some of the band numbers and make a pretty good guess at the others.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n On a cold morning in the mountains ten days ago he was the only Tom in a small flock of turkeys. We’d had snow two days before but much of it had already melted. I’d seen two much larger flocks of turkeys earlier that morning but they had been in the shade so I was pleased to get nice colors on this fellow in good light.<\/p>\n While photographing these turkeys I switched lenses several times because I was usually just a little too close for my 500mm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/9, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Despite his less than erect pose I quite like this shot of the same Tom because for just a moment I caught him at the perfect angle to get the best color on much (though not all) of his plumage. When the light angle is just right those colors really pop.<\/p>\n I also like the shot because my low shooting angle provides a more intimate feel, as if I had been right next to him at eye level. That’s an angle I seldom get with turkeys.<\/p>\n I didn’t look carefully at any of my turkey shots taken with either camera until late yesterday afternoon so I hadn’t noticed the band on his left leg until then. In most of my shots this part of the band is the only part I could see and I could never read any numbers on it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But I kept looking at my other photos of him and eventually found this one where I had better luck.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n An absolutely huge crop of the previous photo (2.5% of the original image) allowed me to read some of the numbers and make a pretty good guess at most or all of the others. In an effort to make them easier to read I played with exposure, sharpening and contrast during processing and that helped to make them more readable.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/wild-turkey-2689b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"wild-turkey-2689b-ron-dudley\\"")
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