Andean Condors

Gallery: AvianPosted June 29, 2016127 views8 comments

This was a fun moment on the last morning of my Patagonia trip. Several condors and other birds of prey had settled on a guanaco carcass. Here, a few of the condors take off from the hillside above the carcass. It's pretty dramatic seeing the world's largest bird of prey in flight at close range. I didn't think I'd get three in the same frame. The position of the horizon isn't ideal, but I felt fortunate to get all three birds in relatively good poses while trying to handhold the 600mm (which I find a bit unwieldy compared to my old 500).

Canon 7DII
Canon 600mm
ISO 800
1/1250th
f/8
(Hand-held)

Max

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 29, 2016 at 12:05 PM

I should think it would be unwieldy, Max. That's a monster lens to hand hold. Nice job getting all three in the frame and the poses work well together.

devil

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on June 29, 2016 at 1:36 PM

Not only did you get three, but they seem synchronized looking at the same thing. I like the composition; the background gives a certain context to their activity, i.e. they're about to land on something dead.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Pete Bengeyfield on June 29, 2016 at 3:20 PM

A flock of condors, pretty neat. The wing positions of the birds really adds to this unusual shot.

Registered on December 2, 2003, 1247 Posts, 3439 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on June 29, 2016 at 8:29 PM

You managed a good shot with the 600mm, Max. I like how the two condors on the outside with identical poses sandwich the middle one.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Jake Alletson on June 29, 2016 at 11:31 PM

This is a "lifetime" shot. Thank you for sharing it.

Registered on May 3, 2016, 12 Posts, 163 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on June 29, 2016 at 11:54 PM

This is great Max. Amazing to get all three in good focus while they are in action. I like being able to see the hill behind them as well. Nice work.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on June 30, 2016 at 3:51 PM

Special. Hand-holding worked fine here. Congrats on a good moment captured.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on July 1, 2016 at 10:23 PM

Impressive image! The positions and details of the 3 condors is great. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments