Not a fight with food, but over it - in this case a dead Mallard. Often two or three harriers would try to feed at the same time on this duck (under the tail of the right hand bird). The tranquility would only last so long and then.... pandemonium! The talon of the right hand bird actually got stuck in the chest of the other harrier for a split second. These are not the same birds as in my last post.
I was so disappointed to have clipped this wing (did it on a few others too). The setting isn't pretty either but I thought some folks might enjoy the action so decided to post it as what Peter C. might call a "novelty" shot.
I was set up for a different type of shot so I got more DOF than I wanted.
40D, 1/1600, f/10, ISO 500, 500mm f/4, 1.4 tc, tripod, moderate crop
Comments/critique appreciated
Comments
30 commentsVery good
Raw nature at it's finest. Looks like a Nat. Geog. shot to me-clipped wing or not as Fred said! And I most certainly wouldn't worry about the setting-it's as it should be.
Lisa
This is the best yet. I say that given these opportunities try taking off the teleconverter for a day so that you don't clip the wing next time. Nothing wrong with a little more habitat. I like the setting actually, all those feathers flying adds interest. (Not that you need it.) I think with a little patience you could rebuild that wingtip and add a little canvas on the left.
Matt - Here it is at 100%. I can't tell for sure if the skin is ripping but it surely is hooked and being pulled forward by at least one talon.
cheers Rob
The bird's skin is not visible in your zoomed picture. The whitish color is the feathers close to the skin.
Your Harrier shots make me envious of your opprtunities to capture images of them like this one.
The action in the image is great, your DOF has both birds in sharp focus, the colors & details in the feathers are wonderful and I really like that they both have their beaks wide open. The clipped wing tip feathers would have been nice to have in this image, but it still has quite a bit of impact for me as it is.
Very well done!
In my opinion the only improvement would have been to shoot wide open to get more background blur ;)
I almost missed seeing this one and that would have been my loss. Great action here, I agree that it would have been nice to have had the wingtip but I don't think its a big issue at all. Our eyes are so pulled to the action at the center that one hardly notices. Your scene is much more attractive than my "cow carcass" and although maybe you don't want to hang this on a wall it would sure be great in a book alongside other Harrier photos.
The other thing that makes yours not a "novelty" photo like mine was, is that the prey fits the Harriers. A cow was never brought down by a Redtail.
Great work, keep them coming!
Peter
Carol