{"id":39156,"date":"2015-06-11T06:30:57","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T13:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/?p=39156"},"modified":"2015-06-09T20:24:47","modified_gmt":"2015-06-10T03:24:47","slug":"quail-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/quail-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Quail Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"California<\/a><\/p>\n

Photographing ground birds can be a challenge at times. The reason being, they are on the ground. The natural debris can hide them to make the photo incredibly busy. And in the case of this California Quail, foraging around in a freshly mowed lawn just isn’t the best of worlds for the subject. This is when understanding basic biology can keep you waiting around to capture the better photograph.<\/p>\n

\"California<\/a><\/p>\n

What you can’t see in these frames is the female. The pair came walking down the lawn and we moved into place so if everything worked out, they would walk into the lens. This is because “stalking” ground birds tends to push them back into the cover where they find safety. In this case, the pair kept walking right down to us and but doing it on their terms, all was good and we didn’t matter. Now with the female in tow, the male was looking for other males that might challenge him for his mate. That sex thing which SO makes us photographer meld right into the background.<\/p>\n

\"California<\/a><\/p>\n

The other piece of basic biology you need with California Quail is the males constant need to get higher to look around. Normally, he’s looking for predators but in the spring, he’s looking for other males that might make a move for his mate. Shooting with the D4s<\/a> \/ 800f5.6<\/a> on the Zenelli<\/a> a top the Gitzo 5561SGT<\/a>, we had stopped where there were a number of possible perches the male could hope up to. Now the boys with me heard me chant for the rock but it was only after the great light was on the rock did the male hope up there.<\/p>\n

\"California<\/a><\/p>\n

A quite often once on a perch where he can easily watch the female for a time, the male preens. It’s during this moment when on that perch all nice and T’d up that the common becomes uncommon and that’s what we’re after. We were standing on the bank of a creek so we were physically low which permitted using a background WAY in the distance providing the clean background. So combining camera gear, time, basic biology and a passion for the story and the photo is captured. Our entire encounter lasted perhaps fifteen minutes but man, did it produce. It is simply how Mother Nature when given the opportunity can entertain while sharing her glories! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photographing ground birds can be a challenge at times. The reason being, they are on the ground. The natural debris can hide them to make the photo incredibly busy. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Quail Post http:\/\/wp.me\/p6YJx-aby and I'm talking literally! @NikonUSA #nikonambassador","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-39156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wildlife-photography"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/California-Quail-0445.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Podcast.jpg?fit=1500%2C1500&quality=100&ssl=1","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/Podcast\/B08JJQC1GR?ref=a_pd_item-n_c0_bc&pf_rd_p=1da7ab30-c785-4a0e-a160-4a7e7077b353&pf_rd_r=EEDMYHQM3DZ05FPRTHMJ","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2fRA9VaVfSdQMKf1ipxr0tipxr0t","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/moose-podcast\/id1107405746","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/moose-podcast","embedCode":"

Quail Post<\/a><\/blockquote>