Date with the grey ghost! - Low light wildlife photography of a challenging subject ... 😎

Has your subject of photography ever frustrated you ? On this particular evening, my subject seemed to be hell bent on frustrating me....

Photography is always a game of patience. Even for the most mundane of subjects, one has to think a lot and plan before composing a shot. As an amateur wildlife photographer, I have tamed my inner restlessness to a large extent. I would say, I am very patient while I am out photographing 90% of the time!

This one occasion last week though, was not to be one of those 90%. I was close to tearing my hair out in frustration because my subject, target of the day, kept playing hide and seek with me as the light faded rapidly in the evening.

I was chasing, what I call fondly, a Grey ghost' - a male Montagu's harrier which has those lovely smoky shades of grey on it... I did find it finally and took some nice shots as you can see below.

Meet the grey ghost of the meadows😀

Harriers in general, are very restless birds. They hardly sit on ground or on a shrub during the day. On their strong, long wings, they keep flying low in meadows, fields and grasslands. They fly low and keep looking for grasshoppers etc

The only time when they sit down on ground is when they come to roost in the evening. Typically, right around the time when sun starts going below the horizon.

I reached a grassland where I had seen harriers flying around just before sunset. I was determined to get some close ups of the male Montagu's harrier. Right off the bat, I saw one male harrier flying low. He swooped, caught a grasshopper and took off...

Ready for a meal - grasshopper in claw..

The chase began then ...

I moved silently and watched as the harrier kept going and going. Finally I saw him land to enjoy his meal. I rushed forward, as silently as I could. As I advanced in stages, clicking a shot after each few steps, the harrier kept eating. I was creeping ahead and was hoping to cover the last few meters to get a full frame image in my lens when, with one look directly in my direction (heaven knows how he detected me !!), he took off! All I got was this shot...

I wanted to get even more close framed shots. So, I kept following him and he led me in a merry chase around the grassland. At a point, it almost seemed as if he deliberately landed and took off just as I started approaching - just to tease me. It was not as if he was afraid of me or was getting disturbed by me. I have approached many birds stealthily before and there was no cause of alarm for him. He seemed to be teasing and laughing at me! 😀

The sunlight was rapidly fading and so were my hopes of getting few good close ups.

Finally, as if he took mercy on me, just about the time when the sun went totally below the horizon, I saw him sitting in a rocky patch with grass. The evening glow was all the light I had.

Still - creeping up steadily, I got within 10-15 feet of the bird. He remained calm and kept sitting - looking at me directly. His menacing gaze never left me.

Now - it was a test of all my skills of low light photography. With a heavy lens hand-held, with an awkward position (crouching down to keep my profile low), I quickly set up to push my ISO as high I dared with a shutter speed sufficient to avoid any effects of a shake, I shot a few quick bursts. Here is what I got...

Oh the menacing eyes of the grey ghost!!

I was rewarded even more for my patience. As the light faded even more, the harrier shook all his feathers and I got this lovely click...

The feather fluff...

These clicks finally made my day. It was a difficult task but finally I had managed to get some really great close ups of the Grey ghost!

Here are the settings I used:

• ISO 3200 (Due to the fading, very low light)
• Shutter 1/800 (to avoid effects of shake)
• Handheld
• Lens 200-500 Nikkor
• Camera Nikon D500

Though unconventional, I think low light photography in the wild can sometimes be really rewarding. I must say- some credit also goes to the great sensor technology of today's digital cameras which can handle even high ISOs like 3200 without very bad noise levels.

What do you think ? Have you attempted or would you attempt anything like this in photography? If so, please share your experience in comments.

Please comment freely and let me know your opinion. I will try to bring many different types of wildlife photos/macro/Astro posts to the community. Feedback and comments are welcome,. I am still learning many techniques and always value feedback from experts in this community.

Have a nice day everyone. Cheers!