Welcome to another edition of Phun Phriday! Over the past year and a half or so I have been trying to capture a descent photo of a flying bird. The most available ones around here are Seagulls, which happen to be the Utah State Bird and I have really struggled to even get an acceptable one of them.
Wednesday was the last of an unseasonable warm spell and a cold front was moving in to our area being led by very strong winds. I went out to a bird refuge about 20 miles from my house to try to get some shots of migrating bald Eagles, which have been spotted in the area. All I saw were hundreds of Seagulls.
The interesting thing is that the average forward air speed of these Seagulls was approximately 0 miles per hour or less. All they were doing was flying into the wind, so it meant that mostly they were bobbing up and down, left and right and even
backwards.
To get these shots I was using my longest lens and sitting in my car with the window down, because when I got out I was constantly fighting the winds - just like the birds. I took over 200 shots and deleted about 150 of them.
Below is the one that got away! Look closely and you may see tears on your screen. My tears.
The bald Eagle that I really went out for finally appeared, but by the time I noticed him I did not have time to refocus before he was starting to leave, so as I
tried to focus I fired off 4 burst shots, and this, the very first one, was the closest to acceptable. Imagine how beautiful this would have been, had it been in focus. I shared this with you because it is my very first photograph of a bald Eagle in flight in the wild. I don't think it will be my last because now I am on a quest.
As you know by now photography should be Phun and that's why I have my Phun Phriday! posts. Have you done something Phun, weird and/or creative lately? If so, leave a link to it in your comment or just tell us it's there so we can go find it. If not, I'd really love to hear from you anyway.
Don't be shy - leave a comment or
email me. I look forward to hearing from you! Did you notice? Now you can click below and share this post with your friends on facebook!
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