Gtr Prairie Chicken
captured by D5 / 800f5.6 AFS
The Greater Prairie Chicken is a fascinating bird with the most unique biology in attracting a mate. When our forefathers crossed the country in the 1800s heading west, they would be waken by the strange booming and dull thud of rapid footbeats as the Chicken displayed on their lek. For decades covering the vast landscape, they were shot by the million to feed eastern markets. Today, extinct in much of their historic range, the Gtr Prairie Chicken can still be found in spring on their leks displaying and fighting in their drive for survival.
Gtr Prairie Chicken
captured by D500 / 800f5.6 AFS
Once again in my drive to witness our vanishing wild heritage, I headed to the Calamus Outfitters Ranch to be amongst this celebration of spring. You get in the blind long before daylight, before the male Gtr Prairie Chickens reach the lek and take up their position on their very temporary territory. Their territory which is no bigger than a dinner table is very flexible, changing size and location depending on the females. The males fight very vicious fights, dance their hearts out, all in the vein attempt to attract a female. When the females actually arrive on the lek, they seem to ignore all the males even though the males get right in their face to dance and boom. And as quickly as it all starts in the predawn light, it’s over once the sun is in the sky. And for a month this evolution of life unfolds and somehow it all works and where they still have a home, the Gtr Prairie Chicken continues to survive.
Gtr Prairie Chicken
captured by D500 / 800f5.6 AFS
Photographing this explosion of biology is a challenge on many fronts. With the incredibly low light levels at the start in conjunction with all the activity, you gotta crank up the ISO starting in the 1600-3200 range and slowly backing that off as the light levels raise. Personally I’m looking for a shutter speed range in the 1/125 neighborhood. Then there is White Balance staring perhaps at a fixed 10k then moving to Cloudy and finally to Auto. And exposure compensation starting at -2 and by the end of the shoot at +1/3. The only easy technical part is the Autofocus which is set to Auto Area AF the entire time. Reach can always be a challenge depending on where you are in the blind. My primary set up this time, and this was a first for me was the D500 / 800f5.6 AFS giving me the reach I wanted. When I wanted to back off, I would switch bodies going to the D5. Making sure settings were in concert in both bodies became a challenge as I would switch bodies back and forth. Why this method? Why set the D5 to High Speed Crop when the D500 was right there? And when shooting video, the D500 with its folding monitor made it much easier for me as I need reading glasses. The D5 / D500 when it comes to firing rate, Buffer and Image Quality all in common, other then having to rebalance the rig on the Zenelli, switching bodies was a snap. I went this time looking to make the singular clean shot telling the Chicken’s story more than the fight shot or some other of their unique biology. As a photographer I came back with much more satisfying body of images but with that came the bigger challenge. Now that I’m back, how do I share these stories to help the Chicken and their drive for love?