I was putting the trash out this morning and heard a bird calling from high up in our eucalyptus tree. I had to walk around and up closer to the tree before I could see the bird making the sounds…finally, there it was, a hawk.
Naturally,
I scurried into the house, grabbed the camera, switched to my Sigma 150-500,
and while headed to the door switched to a single focus point so I didn’t have
leaves or branches competing for “focus on ME!”… I had my camera in shutter priority (my favorite mode), but
hadn’t got to the point yet of checking what speed I was on.
My priority was, get outside, get the first shot, then adjust.
Slowly
and quietly opened the front door. Crept
out under the eaves until I got out into the open (the eaves provided cover from
the drizzle). Got into the clear, saw
the hawk in the frame, zoomed to 500, popped off a couple of exposures. That’s when I noticed the shutter speed was
down at 1/125. I knew I’d need to get
that up faster if I wanted to minimize the effects of camera shake, especially
at such a long focal length. Started to
make the adjustment, and you guessed it, the hawk flew away. I have the subsequent shot to show where the
hawk went…too far to go after.
When shooting wildlife, and approaching a scene with promise, start getting some shots off early, even if the composition isn’t right, even if you’re not as close as you want…it might be your only chance for a shot.
When shooting wildlife, and approaching a scene with promise, start getting some shots off early, even if the composition isn’t right, even if you’re not as close as you want…it might be your only chance for a shot.
No comments:
Post a Comment