5D Mk IV – EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II – 1/1250, f/4, ISO 100

Today I drove to Prophetstown State Park to try and get some wildlife shots. I learned one basic thing, it was very windy, which made it very cold, which limited the time I was going to spend outside – It also limited the number and kind of animals available. Yes, these two pictures were all the animals I saw in the park.

The geese were over by the pond, and when I walked up, they started honking angrily. I was a good 100 ft away when I snapped the pic. I continued using Servo mode and the focus pt was right at the intersection of the flapping wing and his chest.

For the below pic – I like silhouettes – I saw this hawk as I was almost ready to get in the truck to leave. I took about five photos really quick. For this pic, I missed the focus point completely. Luckily, the bird was really far away and I had a tight aperture so depth of field was not a real issue. But, in any case, the focal point is in the clouds probably about 3 feet off his nose on the right side. This just indicates I need more practice in setting up the focus zones prior to a shoot – especially flying birds! I plan to really work on this when it gets warmer.