Jack Backs
12-19-2020, 10:39 AM
Well, I wasn't prepared for this encounter. I was parked pursuing an American Tree Sparrow out of the window of my vehicle. Normally Northern Harriers flee at the sight of a vehicle in my area.
I was concentrating on the sparrow when I notice some significant movement out of my squinted left eye. Glanced up and found this harrier hovering really close. Unfortunately I was shooting
almost wide open and didn't have the focus range limit set. The bird took up almost two thirds of the frame and I was unable to ever center the bird. Hovering isn't actually a very good description
at that range, it's more like bobbing up and down rapidly. The few other images I kept were clipped worse and the tail was was close enough to the center that the auto focus decided the stripes would
be the easiest thing to select so the heads are soft. It dropped out of frame and I had a hard time reacquiring the bird before it moved on. A little frustrating because it was an absolutely beautiful
morning just after sunrise.
Nikon D500, 500mmF4VRII, TC-14EIII
f6.3, 1/3200s, iso640
I was concentrating on the sparrow when I notice some significant movement out of my squinted left eye. Glanced up and found this harrier hovering really close. Unfortunately I was shooting
almost wide open and didn't have the focus range limit set. The bird took up almost two thirds of the frame and I was unable to ever center the bird. Hovering isn't actually a very good description
at that range, it's more like bobbing up and down rapidly. The few other images I kept were clipped worse and the tail was was close enough to the center that the auto focus decided the stripes would
be the easiest thing to select so the heads are soft. It dropped out of frame and I had a hard time reacquiring the bird before it moved on. A little frustrating because it was an absolutely beautiful
morning just after sunrise.
Nikon D500, 500mmF4VRII, TC-14EIII
f6.3, 1/3200s, iso640