Red-tail Hawk Eating Snake

[ckcarr]

Nature is not always pretty.

A scene I came across right after a spring rainstorm.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Good one Craig. Getting an animal with their kill is one of the goals of nature photographers. No excuses required for showing them.

 

[ckcarr]

Thanks Ben. It was actually more complicated than it looks. It was raining, and way up in the La Sals. I was driving my Jeep on a back trail when I saw it off in the distance. So I inched as close as I dared, and then not wanting to disturb it, figured out what to do. So I crawled over the front seat into the back like a contortionist, laid down my passenger seat and then set up my tripod inside the Jeep. Doing that with the windows shut so I wouldn't disturb it. After getting it all mounted I then cracked the window just a little at a time until there was just enough room for the lens. Then I just took a boatload of pictures tripod mounted. So the bird wasn't spooked at all. It was far away and this is a heavy crop. The D800E I once had was the sharpest camera I've owned and I shouldn't have sold it.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Thanks Ben. It was actually more complicated than it looks. It was raining, and way up in the La Sals. I was driving my Jeep on a back trail when I saw it off in the distance. So I inched as close as I dared, and then not wanting to disturb it, figured out what to do. So I crawled over the front seat into the back like a contortionist, laid down my passenger seat and then set up my tripod inside the Jeep. Doing that with the windows shut so I wouldn't disturb it. After getting it all mounted I then cracked the window just a little at a time until there was just enough room for the lens. Then I just took a boatload of pictures tripod mounted. So the bird wasn't spooked at all. It was far away and this is a heavy crop. The D800E I once had was the sharpest camera I've owned and I shouldn't have sold it.

yes, the vehicle makes a great blind, and birds eating something will stick around unless another bird tries to steal it. What I hate is when I open a door and the buzzer goes off because the keys are still in the ignition.

This was a case where beanbag would be nice to have, save setting up the tripod.

 

[ckcarr]

A beanbag works and I use towels, but there's no substitute for a tripod and cable release as far as sharpness.

 

[JimFox]

That is great timing Craig. And it's interesting to hear how you shot this.

Jim