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… a once in a lifetime chance to be shooting the fasted living creature on earth at eye level in the wild … that was the closing treat on the excursion down to Lake Pleasant last Friday and I did manage to get some absolutely beautiful shots of her before my gear malfunctioned. We decided to take one more run up Castle Hot Springs bay before packing it in for the day. We had already captured hundreds of wonderful shots of Ospreys and other birds.
Eric spotted a bird with its back to us about 50 feet away in shallow water off a small island. Kinda looked like a small heron with its back (blue-grey) pointed at us, but then it turned to look at us and wow, it was a Peregrine Falcon standing in a few inches of water. Her crop was bulging, but no sign of feathers (they feed primarily on birds) so maybe a fish? or just stopped for a drink after her meal? Dunno, and then she took off and circled back towards us before departing the area. What an amazing treat and an opportunity for shots of a lifetime.
Our speed machine is the fastest living creature on planet earth … they can fly at more than 100 mph in level flight and have been clocked at 240 mph in a dive. They gain altitude, spot their prey below and then stoop (dive) accelerating and hit the prey from above with their talons; some sources say they hit the prey with talons closed like a fist and others with the talons extended and rip them as they hit them. They then collect their prey in flight and are off for some fine dining.
The shot below is of her takeoff, water droplets trailing her talons as she rapidly rises into the air.Back to the lake in the morning so this is going out very early … spent the day re-calibrating and setting options in my cameras … a good thing to do every once in a while.
Have a beautiful day and make it a wonderful day for yourself and those you meet and greet! Like why not?
Cheers,
Ted
So each one to his wish, and as for me,
I sit tonight and wait
To find the answers to my soul in me,
And in the beauty of the sky and sea.
excerpt from I Sit and Wait by Max Ehrmann
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: [email protected]
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
More about Ted Grussing …
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