Photographing Wildlife - Moab Desert Birds - the Shoot

Join me as I photograph birds in the Moab desert. Mainly I work with some Rock Wrens and a small flock of sparrows in the golden morning light.
View more details and full sized photos at
rayhennessy.com/lessons/desert...
Shoot video:
• Photographing Wildlife...
Photo edits video:
• Photographing Wildlife...
I visited this area specifically to ride some mountain bike trails. The morning I was planning on leaving I woke up just before sunrise and walked out to visit the surrounding area. I knew from the previous day’s ride that some Rock Wrens would be around one area near where I was camping and so I headed that direction which was a couple of minutes walk from where I was camping. How nice! After a quick encounter with a raven I found the Rock Wrens calling just as the sun was shining on the rocky terrain. I spent the next hour with a pair of these birds trying a variety of lighting including back-light, side-light and more standard front-light. Having the zoom lens attached allowed me to capture a variety of images from closer portraits to more scenic shots including the beautiful habitat. At the end on my way back to my campsite I stumbled upon a small flock of what I believe to be Brewer’s Sparrows (or Clay-colored, I’m not 100% sure) and spent a few minutes trying to get a decent shot in the strong sun. Overall it was a success but the desert sun becomes strong very fast and so the best quality light only lasted about 15-20 minutes then it began to get harsh and contrasty.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:39 - Setup
2:45 - Shoot
7:19 - Photo 1
11:46 - Photo 2
16:08 - Photo 3
16:41 - Photo 4
25:23 - Photo 5

[@PeterLariviere]

I love these videos. It's like being beside you as you get the images. You are a good teacher and know how to explain what is important and what is fun to hear.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much, it's so great to hear you like them so much!

[@johnnyguerra3754]

Just got back from Moab. Such an awesome place. Town is a bit to busy for me. First night we stayed about 23 miles out of town not to many birds. Great landscape with full moon. Other 2 nights was off the river with lots of birds. Will go back and stay longer next time.

[@RayHennessy]

Oh nice, glad you enjoyed the area as well! We loved staying around there, we stayed just outside of town in some boon docking area which was really nice.

[@pavspic]

Wow those are some difficult birds to photograph. Nice how you show the time and effort behind those lovely shots. Just got my Z8 and have been trying it out on small birds. AF seem to have a learning curve as I am migrating from d850

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much, it was a blast with them! Nice about the Z8, give it time and I'm guessing you will love it!

[@jackstutts6439]

Why aperture priority instead of manual with auto ISO? Also, what species were the sparrows?

[@RayHennessy]

Pretty sure they were Vesper Sparrow and I shoot aperture priority with auto ISO so I can ignore the shutter speed. I set a minimum shutter speed of usually 1/500 and the camera doesn't go below that but will go higher. I find it far easier than dealing with shutter speed and exposure compensation when shooting auto ISO so I tend to do that. When I shoot manual exposure mode I turn off auto ISO almost all the time.

[@LisaSaffell]

Was that a Savannah sparrow?

[@RayHennessy]

I'm pretty sure I figured out it was a Vesper Sparrow.

[@LisaSaffell]

Ah, yes! I get those two confused