The Weekly Photo (Week 23) - Vultures

We were quietly minding our own business one morning when I thought I saw something dark flash by outside. Peeking out the door to our back deck confirmed that, indeed, I had seen black wings. The surprise was that a black vulture was paying a visit. But wait there were two.

I rushed upstairs to grab my camera. It had the wrong lens mounted, quickly I changed to the telephoto zoom. The vultures were still there when I got back to the door. I started snapping. As they hopped from the deck to the ground I took the break to look at the camera settings. Aperture priority was set to a small stop – I had been doing flower close-ups. Oops, indeed the camera has picked appropriate shutter speeds of 1/8 to 1/15 second. And, yes, the photos were blurred and useless. There must a be moral there someplace.

Fortunately the vultures were in no rush to leave, they inspected the neighbors garage, ignoring my presence.

They even posed for portraits before ambling off into the woods.

Oh, yes, that moral: Be prepared! Before you put your camera away, mount the lens most appropriate for grabbing a quick photo. Set the controls to AUTO or the equivalent most versatile setting. It will make the chance of success of a quick-grab photo so much better.

.:.

© 2012 Ludwig Keck