In the world of North American raptors there are three basic models. The short wing hawks, which consist of Sharpies, Coopers hawks and Goshawks. Broad wings, which consist of Red Tailed, Rough legged, Red shouldered hawks and many other Buteos. And the Long wings, which is the term used for true falcons, like Prairie falcons, Gyr falcons and this beautiful male Peregrine. You can see in this shot why it is named long wing.
Those thin long wings are made to cut through the air and when folded up in a dive (stoop), they are the fastest animals on the planet. There used to be a lot of controversy about the actual speed a falcon can atain in a full stoop, but now with modern micro speedometers the true speed of a falcons stoop is measured much higher than ornithologists and falconers ever thought. One specific falcon was trained by a professional high speed sky diver and the bird was trained to dive along side of him. This falcon was recorded at 244mph in a stoop as she left her trainer in the dust, and he's sky diving at 190mph!! That's as fast as a 2 million dollar Bugatti super car!!
I've been having a great time with my new gear and I can honestly say that I nailed a lot more shots this year at he peregrine eyries due to the killer AF system. Shots just like this one. A high speed pass with a varied BG and the bird coming at me. A very difficult shot for any system!!
This male is always hauling a$$ as he comes into his nesting cove, so getting locked on to him is a real feat and you need to be panning with him pretty fast as he rips by. This fortunate frame is one of about 5 or 6 really nice frames from the same sequence and pass. He was probably doing 80mph in when I caught him and I got some of my best peregrine images ever from this pass with different BGs, but the ones I missed as turned on the afterburners and folded his wigs up are heartbreaking. They started turning a bit soft as I started loosing him. I guess that's what keeps us coming back
Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.
David
Last edited by Arthur Morris; 08-21-2018 at 08:02 AM.
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
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Superb wing position and pose, BKGR, and techs. What I like the best is the head turned stare with just a sliver of the bird's right eye. Thanks for the educational raptor info !
with love, artie
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
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That stare!!! The details, the pose, the background, the color palette are all as good as it gets. Happy your switch has worked out for you as it is always scary and also a huge expense. Your images are something for all to strive for. Not just sharp and beautiful. But also have perfect poses, light, processing, and also an intangible that just draws the eye. Great as always.
That stare!!! The details, the pose, the background, the color palette are all as good as it gets. Happy your switch has worked out for you as it is always scary and also a huge expense. Your images are something for all to strive for. Not just sharp and beautiful. But also have perfect poses, light, processing, and also an intangible that just draws the eye. Great as always.
Great photographers will make great images with whatever gear they have in their hands. But great photographers with the latest Nikon gear in their hands will -- over time -- make a far higher percentage of sharp images without the AF-frustrations of Canon ...
with love, artie
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
P.M. me to inquire on dates, pricing and availabilities. Thank You. www.davidsalemphotography.com
Great photographers will make great images with whatever gear they have in their hands. But great photographers with the latest Nikon gear in their hands will -- over time -- make a far higher percentage of sharp images without the AF-frustrations of Canon ...
with love, artie
Thanks Artie!!
"The AF Frustration" is the perfect term. Not that it doesn't work, just that some of it's inconsistencies are frustrating, especially when you spend a lot of time and energy to get to a location, and in front of a subject, only to be frustrated by the AF system.
Thanks again
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
P.M. me to inquire on dates, pricing and availabilities. Thank You. www.davidsalemphotography.com
Killer frame. Nice story to go along with it. Nice and sharp with a good image design. Great background. Is their a raptor that is actually named a broad winged hawk? Or are people just lumping the group of broad wings together?
Yes, there is such a bird named broad winged hawk. It is a medium size hawk that looks like a hybrid between a red tailed hawk and a red shouldered hawk.
The broad wings belong to the genus buteo
Thanks for the comment.
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
P.M. me to inquire on dates, pricing and availabilities. Thank You. www.davidsalemphotography.com
Thanks so much everyone!!
I appreciate the nice comments.
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
P.M. me to inquire on dates, pricing and availabilities. Thank You. www.davidsalemphotography.com
nice one Dave, locking against this BG is tough. If mine I'd bump up the contrast a tad
glad you got these and probably better ones last season
Thanks Arash,
I know what you mean, looks a hare washed but I did quite a few versions of this one and adding any more contrast made the face and mallar stripe to dark.
Thanks again
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
P.M. me to inquire on dates, pricing and availabilities. Thank You. www.davidsalemphotography.com