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After The Storm On The Prairie
Photographer: Steve Perry
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1/400 • f/9 • ISO 560 • Nikon Z8 • 27mm • Nikon Z 24-120mm
This was captured just after a storm passed in Wind Cave national park using Nikon's Auto Capture on my Z8 with a 24-120 lens. (Auto Capture allowed me to step back and keep a comfortable distance away while the camera captured the photos.)
The trick with this one was that the prairie dog was REALLY slow in accepting the camera at first. He’d pop out, freeze for 10 seconds, then drop back into his burrow.
Also, the rainbow wasn’t there when I started. I began with the camera pointed in the opposite direction, and it took the little guy about fifteen minutes to pop back up after I initially placed the camera. After about an hour (I was photographing other ‘dogs while Auto Capture worked), he was very comfortable with it and was now more curious than cautious. The camera captured hundreds - heck, thousands - of images. Then, the storm skirted the area and rainbow began to form.
Although I knew it was a long shot, I decided to move the camera so I had the rainbow in the background and see if the little guy decided to pop right back out or if moving the camera would reset the 15-minute waiting period (too long for the rainbow). Fortunately, it only took him a minute or two to reemerge and continue his investigation of the strange apparatus lurking outside his den. (And yes, I was grinning the entire time!)
