![\"prairie](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/prairie-falcon-8999-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"prairie")
<\/p>\nLast month, this Prairie Falcon let me get very close to it on the causeway to Antelope Island.\u00a0 It was in early morning and the bird was in deep shade.\u00a0 It’s my impression that they feel less threatened in that kind of light and though it makes for very difficult photography, I’ll\u00a0take the bird close in poor light,\u00a0instead of\u00a0a mile away in gorgeous light – any\u00a0ol’ day of the week.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/640, f\/4.5, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Previously, I’ve posted a different image of this bird but that one didn’t have the\u00a0textures provided by the raised feathers that we see here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/800, f\/4.5, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n When this bird decided it was time to leave\u00a0it had a bit of a\u00a0pleasant surprise for me.\u00a0 In this light and with this slow shutter\u00a0speed I could never get the bird sharp as it took off but just before it launched, it spread its wings and held them there for a few seconds and it even glanced back enough for me to get some light in the eye.<\/p>\n But what I like most about this image is the great look at the feather patterns on the\u00a0left wing\u00a0and back.\u00a0 Because of the spread wing and the lightly colored margins on each feather, those patterns are very clear and it is easy to delineate each plumage “group” – primaries, secondaries, primary coverts, greater coverts, median coverts, lesser coverts, alula, scapulars, mantle and nape.\u00a0 All very useful information to serious birders and bird photographers, though probably less interesting to many\u00a0casual birders.<\/p>\n I plan to use this image to learn feather\u00a0groupings better – something I’ve procrastinated on for too long now…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last month, this Prairie Falcon let me get very close to it on the causeway to Antelope Island.\u00a0 It was in early morning and the bird was in deep shade.\u00a0 It’s my impression that they feel less threatened in that kind of light and though it makes for very difficult photography, I’ll\u00a0take the bird close in poor light,\u00a0instead of\u00a0a mile away in gorgeous light – any\u00a0ol’ day of the week. \u00a01\/640, f\/4.5, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in \u00a0Previously, I’ve posted a different image of this bird but that one didn’t have the\u00a0textures provided by the raised feathers that we see here. \u00a01\/800, f\/4.5, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in When this bird decided it was time to leave\u00a0it had a bit of a\u00a0pleasant surprise for me.\u00a0 In this light and with this slow shutter\u00a0speed I could never get the bird sharp as it took off but just before it launched, it spread its wings and held them there for a few seconds and it even glanced back enough for me to get some light in the eye. But what I like most about this image is the great look at the feather patterns on the\u00a0left wing\u00a0and back.\u00a0 Because of the spread wing and the lightly colored margins on each feather, those patterns are very clear and it is easy to delineate each plumage “group” – primaries, secondaries, primary coverts, greater coverts, median coverts, lesser coverts, alula, scapulars,…<\/p>\n![\"prairie](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/prairie-falconn-9021-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"prairie")
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