Long-tailed Weasel
by Dennis Plank
I was down in the Klamath Basin last week and one of the things I wanted to photograph was a burrowing owl that Dave Bogener had posted an image of a few weeks ago. I found the burrow (thanks to Dave) but when I went back in search of better light the owl was gone and a weasel was in its place. I just caught a glimpse of it that first evening, but I went back the next evening on the off chance that the owl was back. It wasn't, but the weasel was. This is photographed at the opening of the burrow which the weasel seemed to have usurped. I do wish for a better bg, but it's what it gave me. there were some nice bunch grasses on the side of the road and it framed itself in them the first evening, but I didn't get on it in time.
7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600mm, lens stuck between window and mirror (this was a really awkward location between the width of the road, the angle of the setting sun and the minimum distance I wanted to approach-I found myself wishing I had detachable mirrors). f/6.3, 1/500, iso 640, aperture priority, pattern metering. Processed in LR5 & CS6. Cropped to 7.9 MP before resizing for the web. Taken just before the sun dropped behind the hills at 8:19 PM on July 15th.
Your comments and criticisms are welcomed and appreciated.
Thanks,
Comments
8 commentsHard to find a mustelid shot I don't like!
I like the warm lighting supplied by the setting sun and the pose is pretty classic. If this shot were mine I'd probably present it with slightly less background. My own experience with that lens (and the Sport version of it) is that you'll squeeze a little more sharpness out of it at f7.1 than f6.3 (especially above about 500mm). I know you may have been trying to keep the ISO low and stopping down can be a bit of a trade-off with respect to ISO-related noise issues...
Cheers...
Brad
Shadows? Yes, but you made good on a rare encounter with a very flighty subject!