I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that wildlife photography is a sweet spot for me. Recently, my wife and I went to a park near our house to stretch our legs and to enjoy some fresh air, and we had a close encounter with some of the local wildlife. As luck would have it, I brought my new Fuji X-T3 camera, and I finally had the chance to test it with wildlife in action. When I bought the camera I had doubts that it could keep pace with the Canon 7D Mark II, the camera I have been using for years to shoot wildlife. This was my first chance to test it out.
It had snowed about six inches the night before we went on our walk, and the next morning was brilliant with sunlight and frigid, snappy air. The snow squeaked underfoot as we walked on the main path. Plenty of people had been to the park before us, and there were lots of boot and dog paw prints.
As we walked from the parking lot to the trailhead, a dark shadow passed over us. I immediately knew it was not your average robin or chickadee because it was too big and flew too fast. I looked up just in time to see a Cooper’s hawk flare its wings and land on a branch in an oak tree directly in front of us. As I often do in situations like this one, I became laughably giddy with the thought of seeing one of these phenoms of nature up close (I’ve never claimed that I’m cool).
Mother Nature built the Cooper’s hawk like she built all birds of prey—as killing machines. Large or small, these raptors fly quickly and quietly as they pursue their food. Their eyesight is very keen, and some species have excellent hearing and sense of smell. More often than not, the raptor’s victim—often a rodent, bird or insect—has been snagged in the raptor’s talons before it even knows that it was being hunted. On a day like this one, cold with fresh snow, it can be challenging for any wild animal to find food, and even animals at the top of the food chain have to work hard.
We watched the hawk for a few minutes, and I broke out the X-T3. Over-anxious and still learning the ins and outs of the camera, I I fumbled the lens cap off (slightly numb hands), and I punched in my settings. Then I realized that I needed the camera to be on burst mode (shooting at about 11 fps) to capture the hawk in flight. I stared at the camera trying to remember how to switch to high-speed shooting.
After what seemed like forever, I remembered that the shooting mode setting was on one of the top dials, and I made my selection. The hawk continued to sit on the branch while we walked around the tree watching it preen and organize its feathers. We moved around the other side where this majestic-looking bird was lit from behind and beneath by the sunlight on the snow. We just stood and watched, me with my camera up to one eye and my other eye on the bird. With little warning hawk dropped off the branch, spread its wings, swooped down low (I saw it coming right at me through the lens), and then rose to fly deep into the woods. I fired off the camera when I saw the bird start to drop, and kept my finger down on the shutter release and panned the camera until it was gone.
What did I learn here? The Fujifilm X-T3 can more-than hold its own as a wildlife camera, the sensor is SHARP, and I’ll only get better as I learn more about the camera. Seeing wildlife is an indescribable thrill. Bringing home some good photos of Mother Nature’s critters makes the experience even better.
