{"id":8288,"date":"2012-10-08T17:32:51","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T23:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=8288"},"modified":"2012-10-08T18:00:08","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T00:00:08","slug":"the-challenges-of-photographing-falcons-on-antelope-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/08\/the-challenges-of-photographing-falcons-on-antelope-island\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenges Of Photographing Falcons On Antelope Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are three species of Falcons that reside\u00a0on Antelope Island through much of the year –\u00a0the American Kestrel, Prairie Falcon and Peregrine Falcon.\u00a0 A fourth, the Merlin, is mostly a winter resident.\u00a0 For many of us there’s something almost mystical about falcons and most bird photographers I know ache to get quality shots of them.\u00a0 But\u00a0doing so\u00a0isn’t easy anywhere and Antelope Island is no exception.<\/p>\n

In my experience there are three reasons why\u00a0falcons on the island\u00a0are so difficult to photograph well:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The falcons are there but, with the exception of the kestrel,\u00a0they’re difficult to find.\u00a0 For most of the year Peregrines\u00a0and Prairies hang out in the remotest parts of the island that are inaccessible to us due to park rules and difficulties of negotiating such steep terrain.\u00a0 However, all three species hunt the causeway during winter so that’s the best chance for the photographer.<\/li>\n
  2. Generally you just can’t get close to them.\u00a0 Kestrels are notorious for that trait, probably because they’re so common that lots of folks try with them.\u00a0 But common certainly doesn’t mean approachable.\u00a0 It’s not unusual to see a Peregrine perched far out on the mud flats but there’s no way to get close and if you tried they’d fly\u00a0off.\u00a0\u00a0 Prairie Falcons can often be spotted high up on the rocks around the\u00a0central part of the island but they’re invariably much too\u00a0far away and seldom perch near the road.<\/li>\n
  3. Peregrines and Prairies are much easier to approach in very low light, especially just before sunup.\u00a0 But low light makes for crappy\u00a0images.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I’ve included photos in this post that I think are strong images and some that are relatively weak, in order to illustrate some of the\u00a0issues I’ve mentioned above.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"prairie<\/p>\n

    1\/500, f\/4.5, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

    This is the bird that got me thinking about Falcons on the island.\u00a0 I\u00a0got very close to this Prairie Falcon along the causeway yesterday morning but the only reason it let me get so\u00a0close was that it was in deep shade, which seems to make them\u00a0feel much more secure.\u00a0 I worked with the image as best I could to try to compensate for the poor light.\u00a0 I like the shot and I’m happy to have it but<\/em> it would be a stronger image if I’d had better light.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"american<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc,\u00a0natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

    Our best chance is with kestrels, if for no other reason than the fact that there’s so many of them.\u00a0 I had pretty good light on this one and it only let me get close because it was January and very cold.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"american<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a01\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in <\/em><\/p>\n

    \u00a0The light on this male kestrel was mediocre and you’re about to see why…<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"american<\/p>\n

    \u00a01\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

    This is an extreme crop of the previous image.\u00a0 If you look closely at the\u00a0catch light in the eye\u00a0you can see\u00a0the reflection of the horizon line and\u00a0the sun trying mightily to shine through a very distinct\u00a0cloud.\u00a0 That cloud foiled my attempt at a better shot.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"peregrine<\/p>\n

    \u00a01\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in <\/em><\/p>\n

    I mentioned earlier that it’s not unusual to see a Peregrine perched out on the mud flats.\u00a0 This shot is an example of that (though recent rains had left some water there).\u00a0 The bird was too far away (though closer than usual) and on a particularly ugly perch (at least it was a whitewall<\/em> tire…)<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"peregrine<\/p>\n

    \u00a01\/250, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

    <\/em>My few close encounters with a Peregrine have been in deep shade or poor light.\u00a0\u00a0 That light, and the fact that it was reluctant to leave its breakfast of duck, were why this bird allowed such a close approach.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"prairie<\/p>\n

    \u00a01\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in <\/em><\/p>\n

    I’ve had better luck with Prairie Falcons on the island.\u00a0 This juvenile originally allowed me to get close because it was in the shadow of a road as the sun came up.\u00a0 But after a while it seemed to accept my presence and then sort of forgot to fly off when the light hit it.\u00a0 This shot was taken during the few seconds the bird was lit but the rock perch was still in shade.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"prairie<\/p>\n

    \u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4,\u00a0 natural light, not baited, set up or called in <\/em><\/p>\n

    I’ve posted this shot once before but it fits the topic.\u00a0 This Prairie Falcon was feeding on its Shoveler\u00a0kill when two ravens began to harass it, so it took off with the duck\u00a0to escape the potential food thieves.\u00a0 But it didn’t get very far before an adult Bald Eagle swooped in and forced the falcon to drop the duck on the ice.\u00a0 The eagle dropped down on the duck and flew off with it.<\/p>\n

    Ohhh, do I ever wish I’d been in position to photograph the confrontation between the falcon and the eagle!<\/p>\n

    So, the point of all this – if you want to photograph falcons on the island, go early, go when it’s very cold, expect to get skunked most of the time and bring lady luck with you.\u00a0\u00a0Without a doubt, you’ll\u00a0need her!<\/p>\n

    Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There are three species of Falcons that reside\u00a0on Antelope Island through much of the year –\u00a0the American Kestrel, Prairie Falcon and Peregrine Falcon.\u00a0 A fourth, the Merlin, is mostly a winter resident.\u00a0 For many of us there’s something almost mystical about falcons and most bird photographers I know ache to get quality shots of them.\u00a0 But\u00a0doing so\u00a0isn’t easy anywhere and Antelope Island is no exception. In my experience there are three reasons why\u00a0falcons on the island\u00a0are so difficult to photograph well: The falcons are there but, with the exception of the kestrel,\u00a0they’re difficult to find.\u00a0 For most of the year Peregrines\u00a0and Prairies hang out in the remotest parts of the island that are inaccessible to us due to park rules and difficulties of negotiating such steep terrain.\u00a0 However, all three species hunt the causeway during winter so that’s the best chance for the photographer. Generally you just can’t get close to them.\u00a0 Kestrels are notorious for that trait, probably because they’re so common that lots of folks try with them.\u00a0 But common certainly doesn’t mean approachable.\u00a0 It’s not unusual to see a Peregrine perched far out on the mud flats but there’s no way to get close and if you tried they’d fly\u00a0off.\u00a0\u00a0 Prairie Falcons can often be spotted high up on the rocks around the\u00a0central part of the island but they’re invariably much too\u00a0far away and seldom perch near the road. Peregrines and Prairies are much easier to approach in very low light, especially just before sunup.\u00a0 But low light makes for crappy\u00a0images. I’ve…<\/p>\n

    Continue reading<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[340,334,582,371],"tags":[28,31,566,886,541,885,254,311],"class_list":["post-8288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-kestrels","category-birds","category-peregrine-falcons","category-prairie-falcons","tag-american-kestrel","tag-antelope-island-2","tag-catch-light","tag-eye-reflection","tag-peregrine-falcon","tag-photographing-falcons","tag-prairie-falcon","tag-utah-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-29G","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}